About Us

The Harbor Approach

We appreciate that there are hundreds of fund companies offering thousands of individual funds from which investors can choose. What is different about the Harbor Approach?

Harbor uses a manager of managers approach to investing. Instead of hiring a large team of employees to analyze markets, research investments and build portfolios across many different asset classes, we identify experienced portfolio managers (subadvisers), with proven track records, who specialize in a particular asset class to make all of the day-to-day investment decisions for our funds. For example, we utilize an experienced bond manager like PIMCO to manage our Harbor Bond Fund and another institutional investment manager with experience in managing growth equities, Jennison Associates, to manage our Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund.

Harbor Capital Advisors establishes the objectives and strategies for each fund and closely monitors and evaluates the performance of each fund and its portfolio manager. In this way, investors in Harbor Funds have the benefit of both a professional portfolio manager who selects investments on a day-to day basis for each fund and the benefit of a professional adviser in Harbor Capital Advisors that oversees the work of the portfolio manager.

Using this manager of managers approach, we believe Harbor can offer important benefits to our shareholders, including:

• The right manager for the right fund. The investment philosophy and strategy that works for one fund, or one type of investment, won’t necessarily work for another. By employing independent subadvisers to make the day-to-day investment decisions for our funds, we believe shareholders benefit from the expertise of a portfolio manager that specializes in a particular investment style or asset class. These subadvisers aren’t tied to a single perspective on the markets that may be out of favor and affect all funds.
• Institutional-quality funds for all investors. Most of our subadvisers work almost exclusively with large, sophisticated institutional investors such as corporate and public pension plans. Their investment services are not always available for most individual investors. Harbor has taken that institutional-level expertise, however, and made it available as a family of mutual funds for institutional and individual investors.
• Truly objective fund management. Each of our subadvisers is independent of Harbor. This professional relationship with our subadvisers allows us to be unbiased and objective when evaluating their adherence to the funds’ stated investment strategies and the value they provide to shareholders. Our subadvisers are trusted business partners, not co-workers.
• Modest costs. Our arrangements with subadvisers, combined with our internal philosophy of closely managing costs, allow us to offer a family of funds that we believe delivers long-term value to our shareholders.

Harbor Funds Trustees and Officers

The Harbor Funds are overseen by a Board of Trustees and Fund officers.