Burkenroad Fund beats the market, again

The Burkenroad Fund has once again outperformed the market.

The mutual fund, which was inspired by the Freeman School's Burkenroad Reports program and which invests in many of the companies followed by the program, finished 2009 with a return of 31.63 percent, beating both the S&P 500, which returned 26.47 percent, and the Russell 2000 Index, which returned 27.16 percent.

Since its inception in 2001, the Burkenroad Fund  has posted a return of 108.39 percent, placing it in the top 1 percent of all 4,348 funds. Over that same period, the Russell 2000 Index returned 42.42 percent and the S&P 500 returned 13.48 percent.

Burkenroad Reports is an equities analysis program established in 1993 to give students practical experience as research analysts while at the same time highlighting companies often overlooked by Wall Street. Today, the program has grown to include more than 140 student analysts covering 40 small- and mid-cap companies in six states.

The Burkenroad Fund (ticker symbol: HYBUX) was established on Dec. 31, 2001, and is managed by Hancock Horizon Investments, a department of Hancock Bank. The fund utilizes Burkenroad Reports as a primary source of research and analysis in its investment decision making. For more information about the fund, contact Hancock Investor Services at 888-346-6300 or visit Hancock Horizon Funds.