Fund Evaluator:

Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl Overview

Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl (QBNAX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Value fund. Pear Tree Funds launched the fund in 1993.

The investment seeks maximum long-term capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80 percent of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities, warrants, and rights derivative of or convertible into common stocks, in each case issued by small cap issuers. The fund, as part of its principal investment strategy, may invest up to 15 percent of its net assets (determined at the time of investment) in securities of foreign issuers, which includes securities traded on non-U.S. exchanges, American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and foreign securities traded on U.S. exchanges.

About Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl (QBNAX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.95 years: Bin Xiao (2015), Kenneth Kim (2025), Samuel Horn (2025), Bernard Horn (2015), Jason Crawshaw (2016). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 2000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has 51 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 26.3% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has 3.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 96.5%. There is 3.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has 0.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $66 million in total assets, which is below the $415 million average for the Small Value category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

QBNAX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Value category. Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has an expense ratio of 0.97%, which is 17% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 37%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 129% for the Small Value category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl returned -0.8%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Small Value category had an average return of -0.4%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl has a trailing yield of 0.74%, which is below the 0.77% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Pear Tree Polaris Small Cap Instl Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 18.6%, 1.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 20.0% over the past year (grade of D), 14.4% over the past three years (grade of C) and 9.6% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 9.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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