American Beacon Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund (SFMIX)

The Fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital.

Total Fund Assets ($M) 680,660 as of 8/31/2025
Inception Date 8/31/2006

Overview

SINGLE-MINDED FOCUS
Stephens Investment Management Group specializes in equity investment management, focusing on small- and mid-capitalization growth companies.

Firm inception: September 2005

Portfolio Managers:

  • Ryan E. Crane, CFA, chief investment officer; industry since 1994
  • John Thornton, CFA; industry since 2000
  • Sam Chase, CFA; industry since 2003
  • Kelly Ranucci, CFA; industry since 1994
  • John Keller, CFA; industry since 2004

A HISTORY OF ORGANIC GROWTH
The Fund’s sub-advisor believes that earnings growth drives stock performance. They also believe that mid-cap markets are inefficient and contain some of the fastest growing stocks.

  • By using behavioral finance principles to identify overconfidence and anchoring by others, the Fund seeks securities mispriced by other investors.
  • The portfolio includes a blend of core growth stocks (sustainable earnings) and earnings catalyst stocks (expected to experience an earnings boost).
  • The bottom-up stock selection process builds a diversified portfolio with some thematic concentration.
Fund Details as of 09/30/2025
Ticker SFMIX
Inception Date 8/31/2006
Fund Share Class NAV $43.88
Total Fund Assets ($M)
as of 8/31/2025
680,660
Share Class Assets ($M)
as of 8/31/2025
393,370
Sub-Advisor % as of 6/30/2025
Stephens Investment Management Group, LLC100.0%
Benchmark(s) Russell Midcap® Growth Index
S&P 500® Index TR
CUSIP 024524217
Gross Expense Ratio (%) 0.90%
Net Expense Ratio (%) 1 0.90%
1 The net expense ratio may reflect fees and expenses that American Beacon Advisors has contractually agreed to reduce and/or reimburse through April 30, 2026.
Net asset value (NAV) is the value of one share of the portfolio excluding any sales charges.

Performance

Total Return

Time Period
Name/Class QTR* YTD* 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since Inception
Stephens Mid-Cap Growth (R5) 9.84% 12.42% 18.72% 16.14% 8.51% 12.73% 10.83%
Russell Midcap® Growth Index 16.68% 12.02% 28.28% 17.66% 11.38% 12.17% 10.42%
S&P 500® Index TR 14.21% 8.59% 16.33% 17.10% 15.88% 13.66% 10.67%
Name/Class QTR* YTD* 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since Inception
Stephens Mid-Cap Growth (R5) 17.40% 9.68% 18.44% 17.52% 10.05% 11.73% 10.79%
Russell Midcap® Growth Index 18.20% 9.79% 26.49% 21.46% 12.65% 12.13% 10.35%
S&P 500® Index TR 10.94% 6.20% 15.16% 19.71% 16.64% 13.65% 10.59%

Performance shown is historical and is not indicative of future returns. Investment returns and principal value will vary, and shares may be worth more or less at redemption than at original purchase. Performance shown is as of date indicated, and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. To obtain performance as of the most recent month end, click here.

*Not Annualized.

Important Information: All investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Indexes are unmanaged and one cannot invest directly in an index. Please note that the recent performance of the securities market has helped produce short‐term returns that are not typical and may not continue in the future.

For any Class of the Fund that began operating within the 10-year/since inception period shown, the performance shown prior to the inception date of the Class is that of a class (or series of classes) previously in operation. The combined returns have not been adjusted for any difference between the fees and expenses of the Class and the historical fees and expenses of the included previous class (or classes). If the previous class(es) had lower expenses, the resulting performance would be better than the Class would have realized during the same period. If the previous class(es) had higher expenses, the resulting performance would be lower than the Class would have realized during the same period. A portion of fees charged to the R5 Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund was waived from Class inception (August 31, 2006) through 2023. A portion of fees charged to the Investor Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund was waived in 2018, 2019 and 2023 through 2024. A portion of fees charged to the Y Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund was waived from 2017 through 2024. A portion of fees charged to the A Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund was waived in 2016 and 2018, partially recovered in 2019 and waived in 2020, 2021 and 2023 through 2024. A portion of fees charged to the C Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund was waived in 2016 through 2018, partially recovered in 2019, and waived in 2020 to 2023 through 2024. A portion of fees charged to the R6 Class of Stephens Mid-Cap Growth Fund has been waived from Class inception through 2021 and in 2023. Performance prior to waiving fees was lower than actual returns shown for periods when fees were waived. Specific information about any Fund may be found in Performance Disclaimers or in the prospectus.

The Russell Midcap® Growth Index is an unmanaged index of those stocks in the Russell Midcap Index with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Russell Midcap Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000 Index.

Source: London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). ©LSE Group 2024. FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. “Russell®” is a trademark of the relevant LSE Group companies and is used by any other LSE Group company under license. All rights in the FTSE Russell indexes or data vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the index or the data. Neither LSE Group nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. No further distribution of data from the LSE Group is permitted without the relevant LSE Group company’s express written consent. The LSE Group does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication.

The S&P 500® Index is a broad-based unmanaged index of 500 stocks, which is widely recognized as representative of the equity market in general.

The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and has been licensed for use by American Beacon Advisors. S&P® and S&P 500® are trademarks of S&P Global, Inc. or its affiliates (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC are trademarks of the S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by American Beacon Advisors. American Beacon Funds is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500 Index.

Portfolio

Equity Sector Weightings

as of 6/30/2025

Information Technology 26.0%
Industrials 21.2%
Health Care 14.6%
Consumer Discretionary 11.1%
Financials 11.0%
Communication Services 8.3%
Energy 5.4%
Utilities 1.3%
Real Estate 1.2%

Portfolio Statistics

as of 6/30/2025

Forward Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E) 31.68
Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B) 6.33
1-Year ROE 18.56
Weighted Avg. Market Cap ($ bil) 32.59

3-Year Risk Summary

as of 6/30/2025

Alpha -2.44
Beta 0.91
R2 0.95
Sharpe Ratio 0.67
Standard Deviation 19.29

Top Ten Holdings

as of 6/30/2025

Holding
Axon Enterprise, Inc. 2.5%
AeroVironment, Inc. 2.5%
Spotify Technology SA 2.1%
Robinhood Markets, Inc. 2.0%
Guidewire Software, Inc. 2.0%
Tradeweb Markets, Inc. 1.8%
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. 1.8%
Wingstop, Inc. 1.8%
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 1.8%
Verisk Analytics, Inc. 1.7%
Total Fund Holdings 92

Asset Allocation

as of 6/30/2025

Equity 99.2%
Cash 0.8%

Market Capitalization

as of 6/30/2025

$0.75 billion – $1.5 billion 0.2%
$1.5 billion – $7.5 billion 7.4%
$7.5 billion – $15 billion 28.9%
$15 billion – $50 billion 49.0%
$50 billion – $100 billion 10.8%
$100 billion – $300 billion 3.6%

Growth stocks typically are more volatile than value stocks; however, value stocks have a lower expected growth rate in earnings and sales. Investing in medium-capitalization stocks may involve greater volatility and lower liquidity than larger company stocks. Investing in foreign markets may involve heightened risk due to currency fluctuations and economic and political risks. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors, its performance will be sensitive to factors affecting those sectors. Information Technology sector companies may face intense competition and rapid product obsolescence, have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel, and lose patent, copyright and trademark protections. The Fund participates in a securities lending program. Please see the prospectus for a complete discussion of the Fund’s risks. There can be no assurances that the investment objectives of this Fund will be met.

The P/E Ratio of a stock is calculated by dividing the current price by forecasted 12-month earnings per share. The P/B Ratio of a stock is calculated by dividing the current price by book value per share. R-squared (R2) is the percentage of the Fund’s three-year return that is explained by movements in its benchmark index. Alpha is a measure of the Fund’s expected performance versus the benchmark, adjusted for relative risk. Beta is a measure of the Fund’s volatility versus the benchmark. Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the Fund’s return per unit of total risk. Standard Deviation is a measure of the historical volatility of the Fund’s returns. Return on Equity (ROE) is net income divided by net worth.

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