The fund, which invests in the equities of U.S. community/regional banks, has a current long bias positioned to take advantage of the continuing consolidation wave in the U.S. There are roughly 7,000 public and private banks today, a number that likely will be cut in half at a minimum over the next 3 to 5 years. Bank consolidation is largely being driven by the increasingly onerous regulatory environment in the U.S. as well as the fact there are too many banks chasing the same deposit and loan customers. This reality makes it difficult for banks under a few billion in assets to remain independent. The Fund takes a longer term approach as the bank M&A theme plays out. AUM reflects the aggregate of the various share classes and is denominated in USD.