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Artisan Partners Asset Management

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Employees 201-500
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FY2014 Annual Report · Artisan Partners Asset Management
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A R T I S A N   PA R T N E R S
A S S E T   M A N A G E M E N T   I N C .
2 014   A N N U A L   R E P O R T

Thoughtful Evolution

TA B L E   O F   
C O N T E N T S

A   L E T T E R   F R O M   O U R   C E O     2

I N V E S T M E N T   T E A M S   

Artisan Partners Growth Team  16

Artisan Partners Global Equity Team   18

Artisan Partners U.S. Value Team  2 0 

Artisan Partners Global Value Team  2 2 

Artisan Partners Emerging Markets Team  24

Artisan Partners Credit Team   2 6

F I N A N C I A L   H I G H L I G H T S    2 8

M A N A G E M E N T   T E A M   &  B O A R D   O F   D I R E C T O R S    37

Change is constant 
in our industry. 
We have evolved— 
thoughtfully.

P. 2

P. 3

2014 marked 
the 20th anniversary 
of our firm.

F E L L O W 
S H A R E H O L D E R S ,

In  this  annual  letter  I  want  to  reflect  on  our  twenty  years  in  business.  Where  we  started.  What  has 
remained consistent. How we have evolved. Where we are today. I hope these reflections are helpful in 
understanding how the year came together for our organization and our expectations for our future.

Our Foundation
During the mid-1990s, when our firm was founded, there was an interesting debate about the potential 
consolidation  of  the  investment  management  industry.  At  the  same  time,  mutual  fund  supermarkets 
were coming online. Our relationship to the consolidation debate and the way open architecture has 
spurred growth at our firm provide insight into our foundation and who we are today.

The  debate  about  industry  consolidation  revolved  around  whether  small  investment  management 
companies could survive given the marketing capabilities of large financial services firms. This was a 
reasonable debate. Consolidation is a common phenomenon as an industry matures and economies of 
scale are achieved. Small firms are often acquired or forced to exit. However, the advantages of scale 
are usually more significant where the product is a commodity and therefore competition focuses on 
price and distribution efficiency. Investment management is hardly a commodity. Talent matters. Value 
can be realized from intelligent stock picking and unique insights. This created opportunity for firms 
that  prioritized  talent—regardless  of  size—during  this  time.  Investment  management  talent  that 
refused  to  be  commoditized  was  willing  to  move.  And  firms  that  appreciated  the  value  of  talent  and 
understood how to leverage that talent had a unique opportunity to deliver differentiated and superior 
investment management.

The rise of mutual fund supermarkets created another huge opportunity for small investment managers. 
Prior to mutual fund supermarkets, the administrative, marketing and distribution expense required to 
reach  and  service  a  broad  number  of  investors  was  significant,  often  overwhelming.  Mutual  fund 
supermarkets  changed  that.  Investors  could  access  funds  from  multiple  managers  through  a  single 
relationship  with  a  supermarket.  Small  managers  could  reach  large  numbers  of  investors  using  the 
supermarket  instead  of  much  more  expensive  marketing  campaigns.  This  open  architecture  concept 

Eric R. Colson, Chief Executive Officer, 
Artisan Partners

created  a  tremendous  opportunity  for  small  investment  managers,  which  was  amplified  as  open 
architecture extended from its roots in the retail and advisory channels to other distribution channels 
such as defined contribution and broker-dealers.

Our  founders  Andy  and  Carlene  Ziegler  developed  a  business  plan  within  this  environment.  
They  recognized  the  opportunities  presented  by  talent  movement  and  open  architecture.  We  would 
not  compete  on  price,  distribution  strategy,  market  spend  or  a  myriad  of  other  things.  We  would 
compete on the merits of our investment acumen. First and foremost, we would be an investment firm. 
As  an  investment  firm,  we  recognized  that  we  were  in  the  talent  business.  Our  assets  would  be  
our  people.  We  would  rely  on  our  investment  talent  to  provide  a  differentiated,  high  value-added 
investment  offering.  This  shaped  our  autonomous  team  structure  and  drove  the  decision  to  have  a 
distinct business management team, central operational structure and distribution model aligned with 
the needs of sophisticated investors. The goal was to put the firm’s investment talent in the best position 
to  succeed.  This  model  has  proven  attractive  to  investment  talent  who  wants  to  focus  on  investing 
without distractions.

Andy and Carlene also established the mindset that growth is important, but it must be thoughtful and 
disciplined so as to reduce its impact on the investment process. Thoughtful growth requires focus and 
makes what we don’t do just as important as what we do. We don’t try to be all things to all people. We 
believe  in  the  idea  of  the  right  clients  on  the  right  terms.  We  align  our  distribution  efforts  with  the 
needs  of  sophisticated  investors  because  they  tend  to  have  long-term  views  and  thorough  research 
processes that value active management. Open architecture created a platform that has helped us reach 
sophisticated investors beyond traditional institutional clients—if we have the right talent and results. 
As  we  have  grown,  we  have  worked  with  our  investment  teams  to  produce  a  diversified  asset  and 
revenue mix. Long term, we believe this contributes to a more stable investment outcome.

Our business has evolved over the past twenty years, but the thoughts that shaped our business strategy 
at the founding of the firm have continued to define who we are.

Who We Are

Our core beliefs today remain consistent with those on the day the firm was founded. We have more 
investment teams. We have more office locations. We have more people. We manage more assets. We 
are a public company. Yet we remain true to our founding framework.

H I G H   VA L U E - A D D E D 
I N V E S T M E N T   F I R M

We  focus  solely  on  active  strategies  where  our  experienced  teams  can  differentiate  themselves  from 
other managers and their benchmarks. To us, active investing means having the investment flexibility to 
take investment risk within the context of a well-defined investment approach. We believe in original 
research  and,  through  our  autonomous  team  structure,  we  protect  our  managers  from  consensus 
opinions that can stifle creativity. We think centralized research and decision making can mute results 
and create commonalities in performance patterns. By allowing our experienced teams to manage active 
strategies  within  an  autonomous  structure  we  believe  we  have  created  an  environment  in  which  the 
purity of each team’s investment process is reflected in their results.

TA L E N T- D R I V E N 
B U S I N E S S

T H O U G H T F U L 
G R O W T H

The investment talent who thrives at Artisan enjoys research and wants to focus on investing. They are 
free thinkers with uncommon perspectives. The right talent for Artisan is a scarce resource. Therefore 
our business is designed to optimize the time and focus of our investment talent. Since our founding, 
we have had a seasoned management team in place that is separate from our investment leadership. Our 
investment teams are not responsible for managing the complexities of a global, multi-office firm in a 
highly regulated business. Our distinct management team allows the firm’s investment professionals to 
focus on portfolio management within a disciplined, stable business environment with a high-quality 
client communication effort.

In order to retain our investment talent and make our firm attractive to new talent, we need to grow. If 
we are not growing, our business and the opportunities we provide can become uninteresting. But as we 
have emphasized over and over, growth must be achieved in the right way. We prioritize the investment 
process over asset growth so that we don’t lose the trust of our investment talent and clients. This may 
leave some growth, in the traditional sense of asset growth, on the table, but we are confident that our 
long-term growth outcome will be better if we remain consistent with who we are.

Since the founding of our firm, who we are has remained consistent. It has to. But we would not have 
succeeded as an organization if we had failed to grow and evolve. We are in a fast-paced industry where 
change is constant, making thoughtful evolution critical to our sustained success. 

P. 6

P. 7

Firm Evolution

OUR FOUNDATION

1  INVESTMENT TEAM

1  INVESTMENT STRATEGY

1  OFFICE LOCATION

U.S. DISTRIBUTION

PRIVATE COMPANY

2014

6 Investment 
Teams

14 Investment 
Strategies 

6 Principal 
Office Locations

Global 
Distribution

Public 
Company

Our Evolution
When we discuss what is different at our firm today relative to the past we don’t use the word change. 
We  like  to  use  the  word  evolve.  We  are  patient.  We  like  our  pace  to  be  glacial.  Outcomes  in  the 
investment  management  business  are  inherently  volatile  over  the  short  term.  We  believe  that  if  we 
control our pace, despite the volatility around us, we will make more thoughtful long-term decisions.

When we discuss growth we don’t like to define it as a strategy. Growth is an outcome and it is non-
linear. Our twenty-year growth history has proven that. Markets fluctuate, sentiment shifts, the timing 
of investor allocation decisions vary and product innovation fads cycle. We like being associated with a 
positive trend, but we don’t want our behavior to be influenced by the trend. It is important to us to be 
thoughtful about the strategies we use to achieve growth.

Twenty  years  ago,  we  had  one  investment  team  managing  one  constrained  alpha  product,  our 
distribution efforts were U.S.-based and we were a private company.

Over  the  past  twenty  years,  our  investment  talent  has  grown  and  evolved.  Our  investment  offerings 
have evolved. Our distribution efforts have evolved. Our capital structure has evolved. But we have not 
strayed from our foundational beliefs.

H U M A N   C A P I TA L

We  are  in  a  people  business.  This  makes  talent  development  a  top  priority  at  our  firm.  It  consumes 
considerable energy. Developing talent and attracting new talent is critical to the growth and value of 
our business.

We  want  Artisan  to  be  the  most  attractive  place  in  the  industry  for  the  type  of  investment  talent  
that fits our culture. Our business model relies on talent, but the talent must fit our culture and have 
philosophical  beliefs  that  align  with  ours.  We  want  talent  that  naturally  has  a  Client  first,  then  
Firm,  then  Individual  mindset.  We  also  want  talent  that  applies  a  consistent  investment  process  and 
manages  strategies  that  align  with  long-term  institutional  demand.  We  are  extremely  patient  in 
searching for new talent. We wait for all of those characteristics to align before bringing on new talent.

Our first team and strategy were managed by our co-founder Carlene Ziegler in Milwaukee with Andy 
Ziegler overseeing business management from the same office. Shortly thereafter, Mark Yockey joined 
the firm and we established an office in San Francisco. We have established additional offices similarly 
organized around our investment professionals, with the goal of providing an environment where they 
can focus on investment management and do their best work.

Each  of  our  teams  has  evolved  from  one  talented  decision  maker  and  a  commitment  to  developing  a 
team in a way that fits his or her unique investment beliefs. Over the years, our longest tenured teams 
have  deepened  their  research  efforts,  broadened  decision  making  and  defined  a  distinct  investment 
culture with natural succession options. This development has enabled greater capacity for growth and 
new strategies.

Today,  we  have  six  investment  teams  operating  out  of  multiple  offices,  managing  fourteen  strategies 
totaling over $100 billion in client assets. Over our twenty-year history, we have seen retirements and 
other  departures,  but  our  most  senior  talent  has  rarely  left  for  other  firms.  In  a  talent  business  like 
investment management, that has been critical to our long-term success.

P. 8

P. 9

Investment Team 
Evolution

Team Inception

Today

G R O W T H

1  Portfolio Manager 
1  Analyst

G L O B A L   E Q U I T Y

1  Portfolio Manager

U . S .  VA L U E

1  Portfolio Manager 
1  Analyst

G L O B A L   VA L U E

E M E R G I N G  M A R K E T S

1  Portfolio Manager 
1  Analyst

1  Portfolio Manager 
3  Analysts

C R E D I T

1  Portfolio Manager

3  Portfolio Managers 

1  Associate Portfolio Manager 

6  Analysts 

3  Research Associates 

1  Managing Director

3  Portfolio Managers 

8  Analysts 

9  Research Associates

4  Portfolio Managers 

1  Analyst 

1  Research Associate

2  Portfolio Managers 

5  Analysts 

1  Research Associate

1  Portfolio Manager 

5  Analysts

1  Portfolio Manager 

3  Analysts

2 014  H U M A N
C A P I TA L   N O T E S

Developing  talent  within  our  existing  teams,  particularly  within  the  research  ranks,  is  a  critical 
process—one  that  is  unique  to  each  investment  team.  Expanding  the  teams’  research  depth  and 
capability feeds idea generation, mitigates risk and allows for natural succession planning options. During 
2014, several of our investment teams bolstered the depth of their research efforts with the addition of 
new analysts or research associates. In addition, we had the following notable events occur in 2014.

n  Portfolio manager Bryan Krug established a credit team of three analysts and a trader fully dedicated 
to the Artisan High Income strategy, which launched in 2014. The development of this team is a great 
example of the process of bringing the right talent together in a way that creates a culture unique to 
the investment team. All members of the Credit team are located in our new Kansas City office.

n  On the Growth team, decision-making authority transitioned completely to lead portfolio managers 
Jim Hamel, Matt Kamm and Craigh Cepukenas. Andy Stephens remains with the Growth team as a 
Managing Director of Artisan Partners, but no longer has portfolio management responsibilities. Jason 
White remains associate portfolio manager. For more than a decade, Andy and Jim have targeted a 
gradual transition of responsibility on the research team from vertical leadership over key food chains 
to independent decision-making authority and ultimately strategy leadership, a process which began 
in 2013 and was fully implemented in 2014. This created a natural opportunity for Andy to step back 
from  portfolio  management  responsibilities,  but  continue  to  remain  engaged  in  the  team’s  research 
effort  while  ensuring  no  disruption  in  decision  making.  It  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  glacial, 
thoughtful process we like to see on our teams in order to minimize any disruption to clients.

I N V E S T M E N T S

The development of a new strategy begins with the right talent. We launch strategies when we believe 
we have an experienced and proven investor, with a solid investment process and a strategy that aligns 
with institutional allocation needs. We do not believe that launching new strategies in reaction to asset 
flows or product fads generates success over the long term. Our approach requires patience, discipline 
and a willingness to forego perceived opportunities.

The firm’s first strategy, Artisan U.S. Small-Cap Growth, was launched in 1995 under the leadership of 
our co-founder Carlene Ziegler. She was an experienced investor with a disciplined investment process 
focused on investing in well-managed companies with sustainable growth prospects, trading at discounts 
to  the  team’s  estimates  of  intrinsic  value.  And  small-caps  were,  and  remain,  a  core  part  of  most 
institutional  investment  portfolios.  Shortly  after  the  firm  was  founded,  Mark  Yockey  joined  and  we 
launched the Artisan Non-U.S. Growth strategy. He had a history of success investing in international 
stocks  using  a  process  focused  on  international  companies  with  sustainable  growth  characteristics 
trading at attractive valuations within his preferred themes. At that time, institutional portfolios were 
just beginning to include non-U.S. allocations. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the firm added Andy 
Stephens,  Scott  Satterwhite  and  David  Samra  and  launched  a  range  of  small-cap,  mid-cap  and 
international strategies that formed the foundation of the firm’s first generation of products.

Through the expansion and development of our investment teams, and the addition of new investment 
talent,  we  have  been  able  to  develop  a  second  generation  of  products.  When  we  developed  our  first 
generation of products, the investment industry was just beginning to focus on non-U.S. allocations. 
The  trend  towards  globalization  was  in  its  infancy.  As  markets  evolved  and  allocation  strategies 
followed,  we  reduced  the  portfolio  construction  limitations  applicable  to  our  first  generation  of 
strategies to expand their capabilities, and we launched a second generation of strategies with higher 
degrees of investment freedom.

New  talent  acquisition  and  new  strategy  development  continue  along  that  path.  We  believe  our 
emphasis  on  talent  and  increasingly  unconstrained  investment  strategies  have  created  a  platform  for 
value-added  investment  results  over  the  long  term.  All  of  our  teams  have  experienced  periods  of 
underperformance. However, we are confident that each team will achieve the goals we have in place 
over full market cycles and the long term. And we believe that our overall business benefits from the 
diversity of these return streams resulting from our autonomous team structure.

P. 10

P. 11

Investment Strategy Timeline

% of AUM in Outperforming Strategies

74%

91%

58%

76%

91%

82%

96%

79%

82%

100%

100%

100%

96%

98%

97%

GROW TH

GLOBAL EQUIT Y

U. S. VALUE

GLOBAL VALUE

EMERGING 
MARKETS

CREDIT

U.S. Small-Cap 
Growth
April 1, 1995

U.S. Mid-Cap 
Growth
April 1, 1997

Global 
Opportunities
February 1, 2007

Non-U.S.  
Growth
January 1, 1996

Non-U.S. Small-Cap  
Growth
January 1, 2002

Global  
Equity
April 1, 2010

Global Small-Cap  
Growth
July 1, 2013

U.S. Small-Cap  
Value
June 1, 1997

U.S. Mid-Cap  
Value
April 1, 1999

Value 
Equity
July 1, 2005

Non-U.S.  
Value
July 1, 2002

Global  
Value
July 1, 2007

Emerging  
Markets
July 1, 2006

2012

2013

2014

2012

2013

2014

2012

2013

2014

2012

2013

2014

2012

2013

2014

‘94

‘95

‘96

‘97

‘98

‘99

‘00

‘01

‘02

‘03

‘04

‘05

‘06

‘07

‘08

‘09

‘10

‘11

‘12

‘13

‘14

% of AUM in Outperforming Strategies at December 31 of each year. % of AUM in Outperforming Strategies represents the % of AUM in strategies where gross composite 
performance  has  outperformed  its  benchmark  for  the  average  annual  periods  indicated  above  and  since  inception.  %  of  AUM  in  Outperforming  Strategies  for  each  period 
includes only assets under management in all strategies in operation throughout the period.

High  
Income
April 1, 2014

O N E   Y E A R

T H R E E  Y E A R

F I V E   Y E A R

T E N  Y E A R

I N C E P T I O N

2 014  I N V E S T M E N T 
N O T E S

In 2014, for the first time in the history of our firm, we launched a credit strategy.

D I S T R I B U T I O N

n  We launched the High Income strategy with the addition of Bryan Krug. The new credit strategy is a 
natural extension of our high value-added investment lineup. It relies on fundamental research and the 
talent of the team to generate results. In addition, the strategy is structured to allow Bryan and his 
team to invest in a broad universe of high-yield bonds, loans and other instruments, with relatively 
few restrictions on the construction of the portfolio. It has the flexibility to invest across a company’s 
debt structure and without specific limitations on issuer domicile. Results are too short-term to review 
here, but we are pleased with how quickly the team has developed. We look forward to discussing the 
Credit team further in the future.

The performance of our strategies with longer track records was mixed, highlighting the diversity of 
returns resulting from our autonomous team structure.

n  As of December 31, 2014, all of our strategies had followed their objectives with integrity and all had 
positive  absolute  returns  since  inception.  Seven  of  our  11  investment  strategies  with  5-year  track 
records added value relative to their broad performance benchmarks over the trailing 5-year period. 
All seven of our investment strategies with a 10-year track record added value relative to their broad 
performance benchmarks over that period.

n  More  than  80%  of  our  assets  under  management  were  in  strategies  outperforming  their  respective 
benchmarks over the trailing 3-year and 5-year periods. Since inception, only three of our strategies 
trailed their benchmarks.

n  Finally, for the fifth time in the last seven years, our Global Value team was recognized for its long-
term investment success by being nominated for the Morningstar International-Stock Fund Manager 
of the Year award in the U.S. Receiving multiple nominations is a testament to the process discipline 
and dedication of that team.

We believe that sophisticated, institutional investors are best aligned with our desire to achieve long-
term growth while protecting our investment culture. Our investment teams are supported by dedicated 
business leaders who focus on the needs of our clients. We established that approach early on because 
we  believed  there  were  improvements  to  be  made  to  the  traditional  institutional  distribution  model. 
The  typical  model  tends  to  have  an  array  of  individuals  with  narrow  job  descriptions  such  as  sales, 
consultant  relations,  client  service,  product  specialists  and  client  portfolio  managers.  We  think  that 
structure  puts  too  much  pressure  on  the  investment  professionals’  time,  which  distracts  from  the 
investment process. We prefer a structure with a dedicated business leader embedded on each team.

Over the course of the firm’s first ten years, open architecture allowed us to diversify our business into 
the financial advisor marketplace, as the growth of mutual fund supermarket platforms provided financial 
advisors  with  broad  access  to  many  of  the  best  investment  managers.  When  retirement  plans  and 
brokerage platforms adopted open architecture, we diversified our business into the defined contribution 
(401k) and broker-dealer channels in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Our  global  distribution  strategy  emerged  as  our  investment  teams  started  to  see  corporate  domicile 
become an increasingly arbitrary distinction in the 2000s. On the investment side, this contributed to 
our second generation of investment strategies. On the distribution side, this global perspective led to 
increased interest in our strategies from non-U.S. investors, eventually leading to the expansion of our 
distribution efforts from our London office in 2011.

As we have evolved our channel and global distribution efforts over the years, the range of clients we 
work  with  has  broadened,  but  our  goals  have  not  changed.  We  want  to  align  with  the  needs  of 
sophisticated investors and protect our investment culture as we grow. As we further our distribution 
efforts  in  markets  where  we  already  operate  and  as  we  consider  new  markets,  we  are  focused  on 
remaining true to who we are in order to manage the risks that come with expansion.

P. 12

2 014   D I S T R I B U T I O N 
N O T E S

During  2014,  our  business  development  results  by  investment  team,  distribution  channel  and  region 
were mixed. It was a strong year for our Global Equity team due largely to a high level of interest in the 
team’s Non-U.S. Growth strategy. Early interest in the Global Small-Cap Growth strategy and growing 
momentum in the Global Equity strategy also contributed to positive net client cash flows. The Growth 
team’s closed strategies experienced some attrition, but not enough to offset the strength of its open 
Global Opportunities strategy leading to solid net cash flows for their franchise. Prior to closing the 
Global  Value  strategy,  our  Global  Value  team  experienced  an  influx  of  cash  flows  sufficient  to  drive 
positive  net  client  cash  flows  for  the  team  over  the  full  year.  On  the  other  side  of  the  ledger  our 
Emerging Markets and U.S. Value teams experienced net client cash outflows for the year. The large 
majority of net outflows for the U.S. Value team were from its closed strategies—U.S. Mid-Cap Value 
and U.S. Small-Cap Value.

Our  intermediary  channel  garnered  a  significant  portion  of  our  total  net  client  cash  inflows.  The 
intermediary channel includes flows from our financial advisor and broker-dealer channels, which we 
historically  reported  separately.  We  have  consolidated  the  channels  because  they  have  similar  fee 
structures,  similar  types  of  clients  and  utilize  research-based  processes  for  allocation  decisions.  Net 
client cash flows in our institutional channel, which we historically reported as two separate channels 
(traditional institutional and defined contribution assets), were negative for the year. Our flows in the 
institutional channel have been under some pressure due to a number of factors including profit taking, 
rebalancing,  shifting  tactical  allocations,  our  fee  rates  and  performance.  Our  retail  channel  had  a 
positive annual result, but it continues to be the smallest portion of our business.

The most interesting item to report from our business development efforts was our success outside of 
the U.S. Roughly five years ago, we began to focus on developing our business outside the U.S. In a 
year  when  our  U.S.  distribution  results  were  muted,  we  saw  the  benefits  of  that  strategy.  Non-U.S. 
assets grew, largely due to net client cash flows, and the number of our non-U.S. client relationships 
increased. This outcome highlights the benefits of our diversification strategy and the business potential 
of our targeted markets.

We  think  about  capacity  management  at  the  outset  of  our  strategies.  Our  High  Income  strategy 
provides a great illustration. We have limited Bryan Krug’s involvement in the early marketing of the 
strategy to ensure the integrity of the strategy in its early development. We have been happy to partner 
with some early investors with whom we have pre-existing relationships, but we are not pressing asset 
growth. This is always the right tradeoff in our minds.

AUM by Investment Team and 
Distribution Channel

$107.9B
  Total AUM

A U M   B Y   
I N V E S T M E N T   T E A M

 30% – Global Value 
 29% – Global Equity 
 23% – Growth 
 17% – U.S. Value 
  1% – Emerging Markets 
  1% – Credit
<

A U M   B Y 
D I S T R I B U T I O N   C H A N N E L

 63% – Institutional 
 31% – Intermediary 
  6% – Retail

Non-U.S. Assets Under Management 
and Relationships

$ 0 . 9 

8

2009

$3 . 7 

10

2010

$ 4 . 9 

19

2011

Non-U.S. Assets Under Management ($ in billions) 

Number of Non-U.S. Relationships

P. 13

$13 . 9

76

$11. 9

55

2013

2014

$7. 9 

32

2012

C A P I TA L   S T R U C T U R E

For  eighteen  of  our  twenty  years,  we  operated  as  a  private  company.  It  was  an  efficient  structure  to 
grow our business. It allowed us to create an equity ownership culture, distribute earnings to partners 
and retain control of our business decisions. It also established a long-term ownership mindset at our 
firm, which created alignment with investor goals and instilled our Client-Firm-Individual mantra.

In  2006,  we  began  the  process  of  providing  structured  liquidity  to  employee-partners  through  a 
recapitalization that included the assumption of some debt. We decided to transition from a private to 
a public company in 2013 to further that transitional process and create a more efficient structure in 
which the transition can occur.

Overall, the evolution of our capital structure has helped us achieve our goals. As we have evolved our 
capital structure our emphasis on long-term value creation has remained the same.

2 014  C A P I TA L 
S T R U C T U R E   N O T E S

n  In 2006, as part of our firm’s recapitalization, private equity funds managed by Hellman & Friedman 
LLC  made  an  investment  in  our  firm.  During  2014,  those  private  equity  funds  liquidated  the  
remainder of their position.

n  In July, our board of directors approved our second equity grant as a public company. As we always 
have, we used the grants to reinvest in our people. Our 2014 grant represented approximately 2.0% of 
our  outstanding  equity.  We  allocated  the  grant  to  reward  value  creation.  We  also  introduced  the 
concept of career vesting. Our standard awards vest pro rata over the five years following grant, while 
our career shares generally require a qualifying retirement in order to vest. Our employees now own 
approximately one-third of the economic interests in our company.

n  Our dividend policy targets the distribution of the majority of annual adjusted earnings. Subject to 
the discretion of our board of directors, we maintain a schedule of regular quarterly dividends, and 
our  board  also  expects  to  consider  an  additional  special  dividend  each  year.  In  2014,  we  paid  four 
quarterly  dividends  of  $0.55  per  share,  an  increase  from  the  $0.43  per  share  we  paid  in  2013.  In 
February  2015,  we  paid  a  special  annual  dividend,  with  respect  to  2014,  of  $0.95  per  share  and  we 
raised our quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share.

Outlook
Over  the  last  twenty  years,  our  industry  has  gone  through  incredible  change.  And  our  business  has 
evolved. We have evolved from one investor and one team to six autonomous teams (seven at the time 
this  report  will  be  completed)  with  great  depth  of  research  and  breadth  in  decision  making.  Our 
investment offerings have evolved from one strategy in the small-cap space to fourteen strategies with 
growing investment freedom. Our distribution efforts started in the U.S. Now, more than 13% of our 
assets under management are from non-U.S. clients, and we have a strong mix of clients from multiple 
distribution channels creating excellent asset diversification. And we are now a public company.

All of that has occurred but who we are has stayed constant.

We are an investment firm.
We are a talent-driven business.
We believe in thoughtful growth.

Change is constant in our industry, which makes patience and discipline critical. But as I look forward 
to our next twenty years, I take comfort in our experience, especially given how history tends to repeat 
itself. At our inception, diversification was a trend among sophisticated investors. We have seen U.S. 
institutional investors increase allocations to non-U.S. mandates, then to emerging markets mandates 
and  ultimately  to  global  equity  mandates.  Today,  the  diversification  trend  continues  as  investors 
increase allocations to passive and high value-added strategies to implement risk-based and outcome-
based asset allocation programs. Thus, we have continued to increase our teams’ and strategies’ degrees 
of investment freedom, and we continue to seek new teams and strategies, all in an effort to grow our 
business thoughtfully. Bryan Krug, who joined the firm at the end of 2013 and launched our sixth team, 
and Lewis Kaufman, who joined in February 2015 to launch our seventh team, are both great examples 
of investors with high value-added investment approaches within asset classes with strong demand from 
sophisticated,  long-term  clients.  Importantly,  our  newest  investment  teams,  like  our  other  five  teams, 
have the potential to establish franchises from which they can launch additional, new strategies with 
even greater degrees of investment freedom. 

Another  trend  that  we  believe  will  re-emerge  in  the  years  to  come  is  increased  open  architecture. 
During  the  1990’s,  open  architecture  distribution  platforms  took  root  in  the  U.S.  in  the  retail  and 
financial  advisory  channels.  Ultimately,  open  architecture  spread  to  the  broker-dealer  and  defined 
contribution channels. We believe that retirement solutions (such as target date funds) and European 
intermediary channels are tracking toward greater open architecture. The timing is unknown, but we 
believe that investors will increasingly demand greater freedom of investment choice. 

While other industry trends may prove more gratifying in the short term, we believe these are obvious 
trends that provide our firm with the best long-term opportunities. And while the future holds many 
unknowns,  I  am  certain  of  one  thing.  We  will  continue  to  evolve  thoughtfully  and  remain  boringly 
predictable in our approach.

Thank you for your time and interest in our firm.

Sincerely,

Eric Colson
Chief Executive Officer
Artisan Partners

P. 16

Artisan Partners 
Growth Team

M I LWAU K E E

Global Opportunities
U.S. Mid-Cap Growth
U.S. Small-Cap Growth 

James Hamel

Craigh Cepukenas

Matthew Kamm

Jason White

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

P. 17

$24.5B

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N   

The origins of our team date back to 1997 when Andy Stephens joined the firm in Milwaukee and 
launched  the  U.S.  Mid-Cap  Growth  strategy.  From  the  beginning,  we  have  been  committed  to 
building a team of growth investors with deep industry expertise and broad investment knowledge.

Our  key  focus  has  been  the  development  of  our  investment  talent.  We  have  sought  to  identify  
the very best people, train them in our philosophy and process, and provide a structure that allows 
clients  to  benefit  from  their  expertise.  We  groom  our  analysts  to  use  judgment  and  take  measured 
risks  with  the  expectation  that  they  grow  to  become  decision  makers  as  they  gain  experience  and 
demonstrate success. 

Jim Hamel joined the team as an analyst in 1997. His work as an analyst led to significant value for the 
team  and  eventually  to  research  leadership  and  a  portfolio  management  position.  Jim  has  helped 
mentor and develop a large portion of the team’s investment talent. Matt Kamm joined the Growth 
team  as  an  analyst  in  2003.  Andy  and  Jim  recognized  Matt’s  penchant  for  identifying  franchise 
companies with profit acceleration potential and he was appointed to associate portfolio manager and 
later  to  portfolio  manager.  Craigh  Cepukenas  joined  Artisan  Partners  in  1995  as  an  analyst  on  the 
Small-Cap  Growth  team  headed  by  Carlene  Ziegler.  He  became  portfolio  manager  for  the  U.S. 
Small-Cap Growth strategy in 2004 and officially joined the Growth team in 2009 when we merged 
our teams together. And Jason White, who joined us straight from the U.S. Navy, cut his teeth as an 
analyst presiding over critical research food chains. His promotion to associate portfolio manager in 
2011 was in recognition of his influence on the strategies and the value of his recommendations.

All four of those stories are a testament to our talent development culture on the team. We recognize 
results and value creation and layer on responsibility as it is warranted. This has led to a tremendously 
capable team with an abundance of succession options. It has also enabled us to expand the impact of 
our research through the Global Opportunities strategy, which we launched seven years ago. Global 
Opportunities grew from our emphasis of broad knowledge across the global economy and the high 
caliber group of people we have on the team. 

We have a research team that has grown organically, analyst by analyst, and our research capability is 
deeper  than  it  has  ever  been.  Decision  making  is  broad,  resulting  in  more  capital  behind  more 
franchises with the greatest prospects for profit acceleration. Overall, we have a team of like-minded, 
committed  investors,  focused  on  a  single  philosophy  of  identifying  high-quality  franchises  with 
accelerating profit cycles.

Artisan Partners Growth Team Strategies

Average Annual Total Returns

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

ARTISAN GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES (INCEPTION: FEBRUARY 1, 2007)

GROSS

3.75%

19.65%

16.12%

NET

2.84%

18.60%

15.10%

MSCI ALL COUNTRY WORLD INDEX

4.16%

14.09%

9.16%

—

—

—

9.46%

8.56%

3.71%

ARTISAN U.S. MID-CAP GROWTH (INCEPTION: APRIL 1, 1997)

GROSS

6.95%

21.59%

18.89%

11.83%

16.28%

NET

5.97%

20.48%

17.80%

10.80%

15.20%

RUSSELL MIDCAP® INDEX

13.22%

21.38%

17.18%

9.56%

10.70%

ARTISAN U.S. SMALL-CAP GROWTH (INCEPTION: APRIL 1, 1995)

GROSS

0.36%

20.10%

17.99%

8.88%

10.38%

NET

–0.64%

18.92%

16.84%

7.83%

9.31%

RUSSELL 2000® INDEX

4.89%

19.19%

15.54%

7.76%

9.50%

Source:  Artisan  Partners,  MSCI  and  Russell  dated  December  31,  2014.  Past  performance  is  not  indicative  of  future  results  and  represents  investment  

composite returns.

 
 
 
P. 18

Artisan Partners 
Global Equity Team

S A N   F R A N C I S CO   /  N E W   YO R K   /  LO N D O N   /  S I N G A P O R E

Global Equity 
Global Small-Cap Growth 
Non-U.S. Growth 
Non-U.S. Small-Cap Growth

Mark Yockey

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N 

P. 19

$31.5B

Our  team’s  history  began  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  Mark  Yockey,  our  founding  portfolio  manager, 
joined Artisan Partners in 1995, launching the Artisan Non-U.S. Growth strategy and the firm’s first 
San  Francisco-based  office.  Since  that  time,  we  have  carefully  and  selectively  built  our  team  into  a 
robust  research  organization  with  an  eclectic  mix  of  people  from  varied  back grounds  and  careers. 
Today, the team includes a chartered accountant, an engineer, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer, 
a former analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as well as individuals with backgrounds in 
mergers and acquisitions and management consulting.

Our team has evolved from a few analysts covering multiple sectors to three portfolio managers, eight 
analysts  and  nine  research  associates,  all  of  whom  have  responsibility  for  specific  global  sectors, 
industries  and/or  regions.  Charles  Hamker  joined  Mark  Yockey  and  the  Global  Equity  team  as  an 
analyst  in  2000.  Charles’  research  within  the  consumer  sector  and  his  stock  selection  ability  led  to 
increased responsibility and a promotion to portfolio manager in 2012. In 2005, the team developed 
its  associate  analyst  program  to  identify,  recruit,  evaluate  and  develop  future  research  analysts. 
Andrew Euretig, who was appointed portfolio manager in 2012, began his career with the team as part 
of the associate analyst program.

As our investment talent has developed over the years, we have been able to expand our investment 
offerings.  The  Non-U.S.  Small-Cap  Growth  strategy  was  launched  as  a  natural  extension  of  our 
flagship strategy in 2002. As our research capability deepened and our decision making broadened, 
we decided to include the U.S. market in our investable universe. This led to the launch of the Global 
Equity strategy in 2010 and the Global Small-Cap Growth strategy in 2013.

Our  passion  is  investing—that’s  where  we  want  to  spend  the  lion’s  share  of  our  time.  The  business 
leadership team at Artisan Partners has given us the time and tools required to do that for the past two 
decades. Our team also has a chief operating officer who is primarily responsible for non-investment 
responsibilities  to  ensure  that  our  portfolio  managers  and  analysts  can  focus  on  their  research  and 
investment  decisions.  We  can  therefore  remain  committed  to  investment  performance  and  making 
good investment decisions for our clients over the long term.

Artisan Partners Global Equity Team Strategies

Average Annual Total Returns

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

Charles-Henri Hamker

Andrew Euretig

ARTISAN GLOBAL EQUITY (INCEPTION: APRIL 1, 2010)

GROSS

4.69% 21.34%

NET

3.65% 20.15%

MSCI ALL COUNTRY WORLD INDEX

4.16%

14.09%

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

14.73%

13.60%

8.95%

5.48%

4.43%

13.14%

ARTISAN GLOBAL SMALL-CAP GROWTH (INCEPTION: JULY 1, 2013)

MSCI ALL COUNTRY WORLD SMALL CAP INDEX

ARTISAN NON-U.S. GROWTH (INCEPTION: JANUARY 1, 1996)

GROSS

–8.01%

NET

–8.94%

1.78%

—

—

—

GROSS

0.78% 17.47% 10.17%

8.39%

11.36%

NET

–0.13% 16.42%

9.17%

7.41%

10.32%

MSCI EAFE INDEX

–4.90%

11.05%

5.33%

4.43%

4.70%

ARTISAN NON-U.S. SMALL-CAP GROWTH (INCEPTION: JANUARY 1, 2002)

GROSS

–10.22% 17.10%

9.81% 10.78%

14.69%

NET

–11.35% 15.67%

8.45%

9.42%

13.28%

MSCI EAFE SMALL CAP INDEX

–4.95%

13.82%

8.63%

6.04%

10.10%

Source:  Artisan  Partners  and  MSCI  dated  December  31,  2014.  Past  performance  is  not  indicative  of  future  results  and  represents  investment  

composite returns.

 
 
 
 
P. 20

Artisan Partners 
U.S. Value Team

AT L A N TA

U.S. Mid-Cap Value 
U.S. Small-Cap Value 
Value Equity

Scott Satterwhite 

James Kieffer 

George Sertl 

Daniel Kane

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

P. 21

$18.1B

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N

Our team philosophy has always been to assemble a small group of smart, experienced people, put 
them in a resource-rich, non-hierarchical environment, and give them the autonomy to do what they 
do best. We have adhered to this philosophy since the founding of our team.

After working together for nearly a decade at a prior firm, Scott Satterwhite and Jim Kieffer joined 
Artisan  Partners  in  the  summer  of  1997  to  launch  the  U.S.  Small-Cap  Value  strategy.  From  the 
beginning, we have had an ideal setup—we were able to build our investment team in Atlanta the way 
we thought would best suit our goals of creating value for investors. We have added research depth to 
the team over the years, but we move slowly and are very thoughtful about the folks we bring on.

In 2000, Jim joined Scott as a portfolio manager and George Sertl was brought on board as a research 
analyst. In 2006, George joined Scott and Jim as a portfolio manager for the U.S. Small-Cap Value 
and U.S. Mid-Cap Value strategies. His leadership created the breadth in decision making required to 
launch our Value Equity strategy in 2005. The strategy was a natural extension of our research efforts 
globally and across the full market capitalization spectrum. The strategy allowed us to put ideas to 
work that we had not been able to in our small- and mid-cap portfolios. Similar to George, Dan Kane 
started  out  as  an  analyst  on  the  team  in  2008  and  progressed  to  a  leadership  position  as  his 
contributions  became  evident.  Our  research  efforts  are  further  supported  by  two  additional  team 
members who were selectively added for greater depth and research coverage.

When you have a small group like ours who have worked together for a long time you have high trust 
and  confidence  in  each  other.  We  are  a  highly  cohesive  group  of  value  investors.  The  gradual 
evolution  of  our  team  has  provided  great  continuity  in  decision  making  with  natural  succession 
options. When Scott announced his decision to retire in 2016, for example, we felt confident in our 
team and our ability to move forward with his gradual transition.

Throughout our history at Artisan Partners, our team has been supported by the full infrastructure of 
the  home  office.  One  of  the  reasons  the  firm’s  business  model  works  so  well  is  that  the  investment 
teams are given the time and focus needed to manage assets. We have true autonomy to execute our 
own investment discipline in the way we think adds the most value. We recognize that the strength of 
the  firm’s  inner  parts  allow  us  to  spend  more  time  than  our  peers  working  on  and  thinking  about 
investing—and that is key.

Artisan Partners U.S. Value Team Strategies

Average Annual Total Returns

ARTISAN U.S. MID-CAP VALUE (INCEPTION: APRIL 1, 1999)

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

GROSS

2.70%

16.74%

14.67%

11.03%

14.46%

NET

1.76%

15.67%

13.62%

10.01%

13.38%

RUSSELL MIDCAP® INDEX

13.22%

21.38%

17.18%

9.56%

9.64%

ARTISAN U.S. SMALL-CAP VALUE (INCEPTION: JUNE 1, 1997)

GROSS

–6.41%

9.04%

8.66%

7.87%

11.99%

NET

–7.35%

7.97%

7.60%

6.84%

10.92%

RUSSELL 2000® INDEX

4.89%

19.19%

15.54%

7.76%

8.17%

ARTISAN VALUE EQUITY (INCEPTION: JULY 1, 2005)

RUSSELL 1000® INDEX

GROSS

5.90%

15.46%

13.09%

NET

5.17%

14.66%

12.26%

13.24%

20.60%

15.63%

—

—

—

8.13%

7.26%

8.38%

Source:  Artisan  Partners  and  Russell  dated  December  31,  2014.  Past  performance  is  not  indicative  of  future  results  and  represents  investment  

composite returns.

 
 
P. 22

Artisan Partners 
Global Value Team

S A N   F R A N C I S CO

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N 

Global Value 
Non-U.S. Value

N. David Samra

Daniel O’Keefe

P. 23

$32.5B

Our leadership team has worked together for eighteen years. Supporting the portfolio managers is a 
team  of  experienced  value  investors.  The  investment  team  is  organized  by  geography,  and  each 
analyst acts  as a generalist within specific developed  and emerging  markets regions. The generalist 
model breeds business analysts that understand multiple business models. Consistent with the team’s 
investment  approach,  investors  that  have  significant  geographic  and  industry  latitude  aids  in  the 
effort to uncover securities that are attractive on an absolute basis.

We  are  value  investors  and  this  central  tenet  drives  our  philosophy.  We  look  to  buy  shares  in 
companies  where  there  is  a  significant  discount  between  price  and  our  estimate  of  intrinsic  value. 
Over time, we expect to generate the vast majority of our returns through the unwinding of this discount.

While  buying  at  a  discount  is  paramount,  there  are  three  other  characteristics  we  look  for  in  an 
investment  case:  a  high-quality  business—one  that  is  resistant  to  the  threat  of  competition  and 
resilient against the headwinds of inflation; a strong balance sheet—one that buttresses the business 
against difficult economic conditions and provides ample resources for reinvestment and growth; and 
a  quality  management  team—one  working  in  our  interests  with  a  history  of  building  value  for 
shareholders. We believe these three characteristics help narrow our focus to securities that are truly 
undervalued, rather than businesses that are merely statistically cheap.

If  we  have  done  our  job  correctly,  the  portfolio  should  aggregate  into  a  group  of  undervalued 
companies that are generating high returns on capital, financially strong and managed by people who 
are  working  to  build  value  over  time.  We  think  these  characteristics  together  help  maximize  our 
chances of success and minimize our chances of permanent loss of capital.

While our investment philosophy and process have remained constant since our team’s founding, the 
team  has  evolved  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  The  two  founding  partners  (David  Samra  and  Daniel 
O’Keefe)  started  the  team  in  2002  with  an  exclusive  focus  on  non-U.S.  investing.  The  Non-U.S. 
Value strategy was launched in the summer of 2002 and David and Dan were the sole team members. 
The  size  of  the  team  gradually  expanded  from  two  to  its  current  size  of  eight  investment 
professionals—two portfolio managers, five analysts and one research associate. Importantly, four of 
the analysts are now equity owners in Artisan Partners, demonstrating our commitment to developing 
and incentivizing our next generation of leadership. 

As  the  team  expanded  and  our  research  capacity  grew,  we  launched  the  Global  Value  strategy  in 
2007. This added the U.S. to our investment universe and was a logical extension of our business. By 
adding the U.S. to our capabilities, we not only increased our investable universe but the wider global 
coverage  and  perspective  have  also  improved  our  international  efforts.  While  we  have  no  current 
plans to add additional strategies, the addition of Global Value provides a good road map to any future 
expansion: it should expand our investable universe and add intellectual capital to our existing efforts.

Artisan Partners Global Value Team Strategies

 Average Annual Total Returns

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

ARTISAN GLOBAL VALUE (INCEPTION: JULY 1, 2007)

GROSS

6.16%

19.64%

15.71%

NET

5.15%

18.49%

14.59%

MSCI ALL COUNTRY WORLD INDEX

4.16%

14.09%

9.16%

—

—

—

8.97%

7.92%

2.75%

ARTISAN NON-U.S. VALUE (INCEPTION: JULY 1, 2002)

GROSS

1.10%

18.29%

13.32%

10.45%

13.80%

NET

0.17%

17.21%

12.28%

9.42%

12.74%

MSCI EAFE INDEX

–4.90%

11.05%

5.33%

4.43%

6.49%

Source:  Artisan  Partners  and  MSCI  dated  December  31,  2014.  Past  performance  is  not  indicative  of  future  results  and  represents  investment  

composite returns.

 
 
P. 24

 Artisan Partners 
Emerging  Markets Team

N E W   YO R K   /  W I L M I N G T O N

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N

Emerging Markets

Maria Negrete-Gruson

P. 25

$806M

When  our  team  joined  Artisan  Partners  in  2006,  we  were  impressed  with  how  differently  the  firm 
thought  about  the  asset  management  business.  Artisan  Partners  is  not  an  asset  gatherer  with  goals 
around AUM. It’s all about preserving the integrity of the investment process and offering the right 
resources to the investment teams. Andy Ziegler and Eric Colson expressed how committed the firm 
was to the independence of the investment process for each team. And that has been our experience.

The firm has supported the structure and development of our team over the past eight years. With 
team members in New York and Wilmington, the resources we have at our disposal have allowed us to 
maintain  a  cohesive  and  collaborative  working  environment  across  locations.  Our  internal  research 
systems  were  built  in  house  and  customized  to  meet  the  specific  needs  of  our  investment  process. 
Furthermore,  the  firm’s  business  model,  with  a  distinct  business  management  team,  has  provided 
tremendous peace of mind for us as investors over the years. It enables our team to freely focus on 
what we are passionate about, which is investing. 

Artisan’s keen focus on talent development—one of the key differentiators that initially attracted us 
to the firm—aligns well with our investment approach and research process. Our team members, each 
of whom has a deep background and understanding of emerging markets, bring significant experience 
and uncommon insight to their respective areas of responsibility. And we provide them with autonomy 
and ownership of ideas within their areas of expertise. This ownership and the accountability for the 
success  of  their  ideas  are  primary  reasons  why  our  analysts  are  able  to  grow  within  their  roles  and 
remain committed to our team and to our investment process.

Artisan Partners Emerging Markets Strategy

Average Annual Total Returns

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

ARTISAN EMERGING MARKETS (INCEPTION: JULY 1, 2006)

GROSS

–2.80%

3.63%

–0.42%

NET

–3.81%

2.55%

–1.46%

MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX

–2.19%

4.04%

1.78%

—

—

—

4.57%

3.48%

5.40%

Source:  Artisan  Partners  and  MSCI  dated  December  31,  2014.  Past  performance  is  not  indicative  of  future  results  and  represents  investment  

composite returns.

 
P. 26

 Artisan Partners
Credit Team

K A N S A S   C I T Y

High Income

Bryan Krug

T E A M  AU M 
(as of 12.31.14)

T E A M  E VO L U T I O N

P. 27

$565M

Our team joined Artisan Partners in late 2013. When the opportunity to join Artisan presented itself, 
I  was  attracted  to  the  firm’s  business  model  and  autonomous  structure.  I  enjoy  being  able  to 
concentrate solely on the investment process. Additionally, I was able to hand pick and build out the 
research  function—I  prefer  the  decentralized  research  model  due  to  the  greater  focus  and 
accountability.  Finally,  longer  term  I  would  like  to  develop  a  franchise  with  multiple  products  and 
maintain the integrity of those strategies through capacity management.

Artisan’s  commitment  to  building  the  Credit  franchise  has  been  evident  since  day  one.  The  firm 
opened  an  office  in  Kansas  City,  where  our  team  is  located,  and  provided  the  resources  needed  to 
launch Artisan’s first fixed income portfolio. It wasn’t long after that we hired our first, second and 
third research analysts—each coming to the firm with a deep background in non-investment grade  
credit  markets  and  a  strong  commitment  to  fundamental  research.  About  six  months  following  the 
launch of our High Income strategy, we hired a dedicated trader who is integrated with the team in 
Kansas City.

Beyond the resources provided on the investment side, the firm’s centralized business functions have 
supported our operational, marketing and distribution needs. Everyone at the firm has been extremely 
focused on the development of our team.

Artisan Partners High Income Strategy

Average Annual Total Returns

1 YR

3 YR

5 YR

10 YR

INCEPTION

ARTISAN HIGH INCOME (INCEPTION: APRIL 1, 2014)

BOFA MERRILL LYNCH HIGH YIELD MASTER II  INDEX

GROSS

NET

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2.52%

1.97%

–0.48%

Source: Artisan Partners and BofA Merrill Lynch dated December 31, 2014. Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. Past performance is not 

indicative of future results and represents investment composite returns.

 
Financial 
Highlights

F E L L O W 
S H A R E H O L D E R S ,

The outcomes we achieve over any twelve month period will typically be influenced by events largely 
outside  of  our  control  such  as  market  conditions,  investor  allocation  decisions  and  macroeconomic 
trends. This creates a level of unpredictability in short-term results. We are fond of referring to this as 
“lumpiness,”  and  it  can  produce  a  tailwind  or  headwind  depending  on  the  timeframe.  We  have 
experienced both in recent periods.

Because of the impact external forces can have on short-term results, we manage our business with a 
long-term  view  and  focus  on  factors  within  our  control.  Our  financial  philosophy  emphasizes  a  core  
set of factors to keep us grounded amid uncertainty.

n  Focused long-term approach to growth
n  Disciplined maintenance of fees
n  High variable cost structure and stable margins
n  Strong cash flow and conservative balance sheet
n  Aligned interests

We  believe  that  adhering  to  this  financial  philosophy  has  allowed  us  to  generate  attractive  margins, 
strong  cash  flows  and  a  healthy  balance  sheet  over  our  twenty-year  history,  despite  the  myriad  of 
environments in which we have operated.

In  2014,  our  average  assets  under  management  increased  in  large  part  due  to  market  appreciation, 
although it was rocky over the last six months of the year before closing on a decent upswing. Organic 
growth was modest and our margins and balance sheet remained solid. This allowed us to continue to 
return meaningful capital to shareholders in the form of a healthy dividend and further invest in our 
business  with  the  launch  and  development  of  our  first  credit  team  and  strategy.  Overall  it  was  a 
rewarding year for our business.

We look forward to a productive, but if history proves consistent, lumpy 2015.

Sincerely,

Charles (C.J.) Daley, Jr.
Chief Financial Officer,
Artisan Partners

P. 30

P. 31

Increased average AUM led to 
increased revenue and higher  
net income.

Assets Under 
Management 

ENDING AUM INCREASED 2% TO $107.9 BILLION

AVER AGE AUM INCREASED 21% TO $107.9 BILLION

NE T CLIENT CASH FLOWS OF $788 MILLION

E N D I N G 
A S S E T S   U N D E R 
M A N AG E M E N T 
&

AV E R AG E 
A S S E T S  U N D E R 
M A N AG E M E N T
$ in billions

N E T  C L I E N T 
C A S H  F L O W S 
$ in billions

$10 5 . 5

$89. 5

2013

$7. 2

$74 . 3 

$6 6 . 2

2012

$5 . 8

2012

2013

$107. 9

$107.9

2014

$ 0 . 8

2014

Financial 
Results 

RE VENUES INCREASED 21% TO $828.7 MILLION

ADJUSTED OPER ATING MARGIN1 EXPANDED 280 BASIS POINTS TO 44.9%

ADJUSTED NE T INCOME1 INCREASED 27% TO $228.9 MILLION

ADJUSTED NE T INCOME PER ADJUSTED SHARE1 OF $3.17

R E V E N U E 
$ in millions

A D J U S T E D 
O P E R AT I N G 
M A R G I N 1

A D J U S T E D 
N E T  I N C O M E 1 
$ in millions

$ 6 8 5 . 8

$ 8 2 8 . 7

$5 0 5 . 6

2012

2013

2014

4 0 .1%

42 .1%

4 4 . 9 %

2012

2013

2014

$2 2 8 . 9

$18 0 . 3

$12 2 . 4

2012

2013

2014

1 Operating Margin (GAAP) for the years ended December 31, 2012, December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014 was 9.3%, (38.1)% 
and 37.0%, respectively. Net Income attributable to APAM for the years ended December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014 was  
$24.8M and $69.6M, respectively. See page 35 for a reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP (“Adjusted”) Measures.

P. 32

P. 33

Our margins and balance sheet 
remained solid, allowing us to  
continue to return meaningful 
capital to shareholders in the 
form of a healthy dividend.

Capital 
Management 

PAID QUARTERLY DIVIDENDS OF $0.55 PER SHARE OF CL ASS A COMMON STOCK

PAID ANNUAL SPECIAL DIVIDEND IN 2015 OF $0.95 PER SHARE OF CL ASS A COMMON STOCK

INCREASED 2015 QUARTERLY DIVIDEND TO $0.60 PER SHARE OF CL ASS A COMMON STOCK

C A S H 
$ in millions

B O R R O W I N G S 
$ in millions

L E V E R AG E 
R AT I O 1

$211. 8

$18 2 . 3

$141. 2

Q UA R T E R LY 
D I V I D E N D  R AT E

$ 0 . 55

$ 0 . 6 0

$ 0 . 4 3

2012

2013

2014

2013

2014

2015

$2 9 0 . 0

$2 0 0 . 0

$2 0 0 . 0

S P E C I A L  A N N UA L 
D I V I D E N D S

$1. 63 1

$ 0 . 9 5

2012

2013

2014

2014

2015

1. 4 x

0 . 7 x

2012

2013

0 . 5x

2014

T O TA L  Q UA R T E R LY
&  S P E C I A L  A N N UA L 
D I V I D E N D S

$3 . 0 4

$3 . 2 0

3Q13 / 4Q13 / 1Q14

2Q14 / 3Q14 / 4Q14 / 1Q15

1 Calculated in accordance with debt agreements.

NOTE: Time periods noted above represent the period in which the dividends were paid.

1  The amount of our initial special annual dividend reflected strong earnings in 2013 and excess cash on the balance sheet, 

including cash raised in the March 2013 initial public offering.

P. 34

P. 35

G A A P  C O N S O L I DAT E D 
S TAT E M E N T S  O F 
O P E R AT I O N S

(in millions, except share 
and per share data)

REVENUES

OPERATING EXPENSES

For the Year Ended December 31,

2014

2013

2012

$828.7

$   685.8

$505.6

R E C O N C I L I AT I O N   
O F  N O N - G A A P 
( “A D J U S T E D ” ) 
F I N A N C I A L  M E A S U R E S

(unaudited, in millions, 
except per share data)

For the Year Ended December 31,

2014

2013

2012

NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO ARTISAN PARTNERS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC. (GAAP)

$  69.6

$    24.8

$     —

ADD BACK: NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS—ARTISAN PARTNERS 

HOLDINGS

173.1

(269.6)

33.8

TOTAL COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

415.0

856.4

383.1

ADD BACK: PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES

48.8

26.4

1.0

OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES

106.8

90.6

75.4

ADD BACK: PRE-OFFERING RELATED COMPENSATION—SHARE-BASED AWARDS

64.7

404.2

101.7

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES

521.8

947.0

458.5

ADD BACK: PRE-OFFERING RELATED COMPENSATION—OTHER

—

143.0

54.1

TOTAL OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

306.9

(261.2)

47.1

ADD BACK: OFFERING RELATED PROXY EXPENSE

NON-OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

ADD BACK: NET (GAIN) LOSS ON THE TAX RECEIVABLE AGREEMENTS

INTEREST EXPENSE

(11.6)

(11.9)

(11.4)

LESS: NET GAIN ON THE VALUATION OF CONTINGENT VALUE RIGHTS

0.1

4.2

—

2.9

—

49.6

—

—

—

OTHER NON-OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

(7.8)

65.4

7.9

LESS: ADJUSTED PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES

131.6

101.8

68.2

TOTAL NON-OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)

(19.4)

53.5

(3.5)

ADJUSTED NET INCOME (NON-GAAP)

$228.9

$  180.3

$122.4

INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES

287.5

(207.7)

43.6

AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING

PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES

48.8

26.4

1.0

CLASS A COMMON SHARES

27.5

13.8

—

NET INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS

238.7

(234.1)

42.6

LESS: NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS—ARTISAN PARTNERS HOLDINGS

173.1

(269.6)

33.8

LESS: NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS—LAUNCH EQUITY

(4.0)

10.7

8.8

ASSUMED VESTING, CONVERSION OR EXCHANGE OF:

CLASS A UNVESTED RESTRICTED SHARES

CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED SHARES OUTSTANDING

2.1

0.4

0.9

2.3

NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO ARTISAN PARTNERS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC.1

$  69.6

$     24.8

$ 

  —

ARTISAN PARTNERS HOLDINGS UNITS OUTSTANDING (NONCONTROLLING INTEREST)

42.2

53.9

—

—

—

PER SHARE DATA

ADJUSTED SHARES

72.2

70.9

N/A

NET INCOME (LOSS) AVAILABLE TO CLASS A COMMON STOCK PER BASIC AND DILUTED SHARE

$  (0.37)

$   (2.04)

N/A

ADJUSTED NET INCOME PER ADJUSTED SHARE (NON-GAAP)

$  3.17

$    2.54

N/A

WEIGHTED AVERAGE BASIC AND DILUTED SHARES OF CLASS A COMMON STOCK OUTSTANDING

27,514,394

13,780,378

N/A

OPERATING INCOME (LOSS) (GAAP)

$306.9

$(261.2)

$  47.1

ADD BACK: PRE-OFFERING RELATED COMPENSATION—SHARE-BASED AWARDS

64.7

404.2

101.7

ADD BACK: PRE-OFFERING RELATED COMPENSATION—OTHER

—

143.0

54.1

ADD BACK: OFFERING RELATED PROXY EXPENSE

0.1

2.9

—

ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME (NON-GAAP)

$371.7

$  288.9

$202.9

ADJUSTED OPERATING MARGIN (NON-GAAP)

44.9%

42.1%

40.1%

1  Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. became the general partner of Artisan Partners Holdings on March 12, 2013. Prior to 

that time, none of the net income of Artisan Partners Holdings was allocated to Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.

P. 36

F O R WA R D - L O O K I N G 
S TAT E M E N T S

Certain information in this presentation, and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Artisan Partners, are 
“forward-looking  statements”  within  the  meaning  of  the  federal  securities  laws.  Statements  regarding  future  events  and 
developments  and  the  company’s  future  performance,  as  well  as  management’s  current  expectations,  beliefs,  plans, 
estimates  or  projections  relating  to  the  future,  are  forward-looking  statements  within  the  meaning  of  these  laws.  These 
forward-looking statements are only predictions based on current expectations and projections about future events. These 
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could 
cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Artisan Partners

P. 37

I N V E S T M E N T 
P E R F O R M A N C E

We measure the results of our “composites,” which represent the aggregate performance of all discretionary client accounts, 
including  mutual  funds,  invested  in  the  same  strategy  except  those  accounts  with  respect  to  which  we  believe  client-
imposed socially based restrictions may have a material impact on portfolio construction and those accounts managed in a 
currency other than U.S. dollars (the results of these accounts, which represented approximately 8% of our assets under 
management at December 31, 2014, are maintained in separate composites, which are not presented in these materials).

Results for any investment strategy described herein, and for different investment products within a strategy, are affected 
by  numerous  factors,  including  different  material  market  or  economic  conditions;  different  investment  management  fee 
rates, brokerage commissions and other expenses; and the reinvestment of dividends or other earnings. The returns for any 
strategy may be positive or negative, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Composite returns presented 
net-of-fees were calculated using the highest model investment advisory fees applicable to portfolios within the composite. 
Fees may be higher for certain pooled vehicles and the composite may include accounts with performance-based fees. In 
these  materials,  we  present  “Value-Added,”  which  is  the  amount  in  basis  points  by  which  the  average  annual  gross 
composite return of each of our strategies has outperformed or underperformed the market index most commonly used by 
our clients to compare the performance of the relevant strategy. The market indices used to compute the value added for 
each of our strategies are as follows: Non-U.S. Growth—MSCI EAFE Index; Non-U.S. Small-Cap Growth—MSCI EAFE 
Small Cap Index; Global Equity—MSCI ACWI Index; Global Small-Cap Growth—MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index; U.S. 
Mid-Cap  Value—Russell  Midcap®  Index;  U.S.  Small-Cap  Value—Russell  2000®  Index;  Value  Equity—Russell  1000® 
Index;  U.S.  Mid-Cap  Growth—Russell  Midcap®  Index;  U.S.  Small-Cap  Growth—Russell  2000 ®  Index;  Global 
Opportunities—MSCI ACWI Index; Non-U.S. Value—MSCI EAFE Index; Global Value—MSCI ACWI Index; Emerging 
Markets—MSCI Emerging Markets Index; High Income—BofA Merrill Lynch US High Yield Master II Index. Unlike the 
BofA  Merrill  Lynch  High  Yield  Master  II  Index,  the  Artisan  High  Income  Strategy  may  hold  loans  and  other  security 
types. At times, this can cause material differences in relative performance.

None of the information in these materials constitutes either an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell any fund securities, nor 
is any such information a recommendation for any fund security or investment service.

Throughout these materials, we present historical information about our assets under management and our average assets 
under management for certain periods. We use our information management systems to track our assets under management 
and  we  believe  the  information  in  these  materials  regarding  our  assets  under  management  is  accurate  in  all  material 
respects. We also present information regarding the amount of our assets under management sourced through particular 
distribution  channels.  The  allocation  of  assets  under  management  sourced  through  particular  distribution  channels 
involves  estimates  and  the  exercise  of  judgment.  We  have  presented  the  information  on  our  assets  under  management 
sourced  by  distribution  channel  in  the  way  in  which  we  prepare  and  use  that  information  in  the  management  of  our 
business. Data sourced by distribution channel on our assets under management are not subject to our internal controls 
over financial reporting.

Established in 1988, the Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year award recognizes portfolio managers who demonstrate 
excellent  investment  skill  and  the  courage  to  differ  from  the  consensus  to  benefit  investors.  To  qualify  for  the  award, 
managers’ funds must have not only posted impressive returns for the year, but the managers also must have a record of 
delivering outstanding long-term risk-adjusted performance and of aligning their interests with shareholders’. Beginning in 
2012, nominated funds must be Morningstar Medalists—a fund that has garnered a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Gold, 
Silver, or Bronze. The Fund Manager of the Year award winners are chosen based on Morningstar’s proprietary research 
and in-depth qualitative evaluation by its fund analysts. Morningstar Inc.’s awards are based on qualitative evaluation and 
research, thus subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Morningstar’s awards 
are not guarantees of a fund’s future investment performance. Morningstar, Inc. does not sponsor, issue, sell or promote 
any open-end mutual funds including the Artisan Funds.

MSCI Inc. is the owner of all copyrights relating to these indices and is the source of the performance statistics of these 
indices that are referred to in these materials. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall 
have  no  liability  whatsoever  with  respect  to  any  MSCI  data  contained  herein.  The  MSCI  data  may  not  be  further 
redistributed or used to create indices or financial products. This report is not approved or produced by MSCI. Russell 
Investment  Group  is  the  source  and  owner  of  the  Russell  Index  data  contained  or  reflected  in  this  material  and  all 
trademarks and copyrights related thereto. The presentation may contain confidential information and unauthorized use, 
disclosure, copying, dissemina tion or redistribution is strictly prohibited. This is a presentation of Artisan Partners. Russell 
Investment Group is not responsible for the formatting or configuration of this material or for any inaccuracy in Artisan 
Partners’ presentation thereof. The BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index is owned by BofA Merrill Lynch and 
used with permission. BofA Merrill Lynch is licensing the BofA Merrill Lynch indices “as is,” makes no warranties regarding 
same,  does  not  guarantee  the  suitability,  quality,  accuracy,  timeliness,  and/or  completeness  of  the  BofA  Merrill  Lynch 
indices or any data included in, related to, or derived there from, assumes no liability in connection with their use, and 
does not sponsor, endorse, or recommend Artisan Partners, or any of its products or services.

Copyright 2015 Artisan Partners. All rights reserved. This presentation may not be reproduced in whole or in part without Artisan Partners’ permission.

F I N A N C I A L 
I N F O R M AT I O N

M O R N I N G S TA R 
F U N D  M A N AG E R 
O F   T H E   Y E A R   
I N  T H E   U. S .

T R A D E M A R K   
N O T I C E

M A N A G E M E N T   T E A M

Eric Colson
President and Chief Executive Officer

Charles (C.J.) Daley, Jr. 
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Sarah Johnson 
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Dean Patenaude
Executive Vice President, Global Distribution

B O A R D   O F   D I R E C T O R S

Gregory Ramirez
Senior Vice President 

Andrew Ziegler
Chairman of the Board

Matthew Barger 
Director

Seth Brennan 
Director

Eric Colson 
Director

Tench Coxe
Director

Stephanie DiMarco
Director

Jeffrey Joerres
Director

A

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