Liberty All-Star Equity Fund

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY

Investment Company Act file number: 811-04809

LIBERTY ALL-STAR EQUITY FUND

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

1290 Broadway, Suite 1100, Denver, Colorado 80203

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Erin Nelson

ALPS Fund Services, Inc.

1290 Broadway, Suite 1100

Denver, Colorado 80203

(Name and address of agent for service)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (303) 623-2577

Date of fiscal year end: December 31

Date of reporting period: July 1 – September 30, 2013


Item 1 – Schedule of Investments.


     SHARES      MARKET VALUE  
COMMON STOCKS (97.16%)      

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY (13.71%)

     

Auto Components (1.93%)

     

Delphi Automotive PLC

     76,275       $ 4,455,986   

Johnson Controls, Inc.

     217,343         9,019,734   

Magna International, Inc.

     36,207         2,989,250   

TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.(a)

     61,625         4,394,479   
     

 

 

 
        20,859,449   
     

 

 

 

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure (2.90%)

     

Carnival Corp.

     138,685         4,526,678   

Marriott International, Inc., Class A

     177,681         7,473,263   

McDonald’s Corp.

     26,000         2,501,460   

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Class A(a)

     124,147         1,611,428   

Starbucks Corp.

     198,127         15,249,835   
     

 

 

 
        31,362,664   
     

 

 

 

Household Durables (2.17%)

     

Lennar Corp., Class A

     179,220         6,344,388   

NVR, Inc.(a)

     604         555,191   

PulteGroup, Inc.

     264,739         4,368,194   

Taylor Morrison Home Corp.(a)

     52,079         1,179,589   

Toll Brothers, Inc.(a)

     340,291         11,035,637   
     

 

 

 
        23,482,999   
     

 

 

 

Internet & Catalog Retail (2.13%)

     

Amazon.com, Inc.(a)

     47,550         14,866,032   

priceline.com, Inc.(a)

     6,975         7,051,376   

Shutterfly, Inc.(a)

     19,627         1,096,757   
     

 

 

 
        23,014,165   
     

 

 

 

Media (1.46%)

     

Comcast Corp., Class A

     70,440         3,180,366   

News Corp.(a)

     59,645         979,967   

Omnicom Group, Inc.

     115,525         7,328,906   

The Walt Disney Co.

     66,897         4,314,188   
     

 

 

 
        15,803,427   
     

 

 

 

Specialty Retail (2.10%)

     

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.

     69,643         3,717,544   

The Home Depot, Inc.

     61,907         4,695,646   

Staples, Inc.

     448,100         6,564,665   

Tiffany & Co.

     69,610         5,333,518   

The TJX Cos., Inc.

     41,562         2,343,681   
     

 

 

 
        22,655,054   
     

 

 

 

Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods (1.02%)

     

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd.(a)

     18,353         1,367,666   

NIKE, Inc., Class B

     44,625         3,241,560   

PVH Corp.

     28,454         3,377,205   

Ralph Lauren Corp.

     18,399         3,030,867   
     

 

 

 
        11,017,298   
     

 

 

 

CONSUMER STAPLES (4.76%)

     

Beverages (1.17%)

     

The Coca-Cola Company

     80,000         3,030,400   

Diageo PLC(b)

     47,600         6,049,008   

PepsiCo, Inc.

     45,000         3,577,500   
     

 

 

 
        12,656,908   
     

 

 

 

Food & Staples Retailing (0.88%)

     

Costco Wholesale Corp.

     43,900         5,053,768   

CVS Caremark Corp.

     78,000         4,426,500   
     

 

 

 
        9,480,268   
     

 

 

 


     SHARES      MARKET VALUE  

COMMON STOCKS (continued)

     

Food Products (1.47%)

     

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

     175,000       $ 6,447,000   

Kellogg Co.

     47,000         2,760,310   

Mead Johnson Nutrition Co.

     43,400         3,222,884   

Mondelez International, Inc., Class A

     109,209         3,431,347   
     

 

 

 
        15,861,541   
     

 

 

 

Household Products (0.62%)

     

The Procter & Gamble Co.

     89,000         6,727,510   
     

 

 

 

Tobacco (0.62%)

     

Philip Morris International, Inc.

     77,152         6,680,591   
     

 

 

 

ENERGY (14.17%)

     

Energy Equipment & Services (4.43%)

     

Baker Hughes, Inc.

     168,650         8,280,715   

Dril-Quip, Inc.(a)

     22,600         2,593,350   

National-Oilwell Varco, Inc.

     46,400         3,624,304   

Oceaneering International, Inc.

     66,400         5,394,336   

Schlumberger Ltd.

     246,598         21,789,399   

Weatherford International Ltd.(a)

     404,385         6,199,222   
     

 

 

 
        47,881,326   
     

 

 

 

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (9.74%)

     

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

     14,000         1,301,860   

Arch Coal, Inc.

     1,990,156         8,179,541   

BP PLC(b)

     223,450         9,391,613   

Chesapeake Energy Corp.

     527,776         13,658,843   

Chevron Corp.

     52,900         6,427,350   

Cobalt International Energy, Inc.(a)

     236,150         5,870,689   

ConocoPhillips

     92,600         6,436,626   

CONSOL Energy, Inc.

     106,216         3,574,168   

Devon Energy Corp.

     262,023         15,134,449   

Exxon Mobil Corp.

     44,775         3,852,441   

Occidental Petroleum Corp.

     85,000         7,950,900   

Peabody Energy Corp.

     450,788         7,776,093   

Royal Dutch Shell PLC(b)

     148,763         9,770,741   

WPX Energy, Inc.(a)

     308,920         5,949,799   
     

 

 

 
        105,275,113   
     

 

 

 

FINANCIALS (24.47%)

     

Capital Markets (5.28%)

     

The Charles Schwab Corp.

     420,100         8,880,914   

Franklin Resources, Inc.

     85,600         4,327,080   

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

     37,450         5,924,965   

Invesco Ltd.

     169,475         5,406,253   

Morgan Stanley

     573,312         15,450,758   

State Street Corp.

     170,675         11,221,881   

UBS AG

     284,025         5,828,193   
     

 

 

 
        57,040,044   
     

 

 

 

Commercial Banks (4.43%)

     

BB&T Corp.

     205,000         6,918,750   

First Republic Bank

     47,064         2,194,594   

Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

     283,211         2,339,323   

KeyCorp

     227,950         2,598,630   

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

     70,666         5,119,752   

Regions Financial Corp.

     505,548         4,681,374   

SunTrust Banks, Inc.

     460,443         14,927,562   

Wells Fargo & Co.

     222,000         9,173,040   
     

 

 

 
        47,953,025   
     

 

 

 


     SHARES      MARKET VALUE  

COMMON STOCKS (continued)

     

Consumer Finance (0.80%)

     

American Express Co.

     91,500       $ 6,910,080   

Capital One Financial Corp.

     25,200         1,732,248   
     

 

 

 
        8,642,328   
     

 

 

 

Diversified Financial Services (6.07%)

     

Bank of America Corp.

     1,150,846         15,881,675   

Citigroup, Inc.

     377,074         18,291,860   

CME Group, Inc.

     64,636         4,775,308   

ING US, Inc.

     137,250         4,009,072   

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

     437,965         22,638,411   
     

 

 

 
        65,596,326   
     

 

 

 

Insurance (6.50%)

     

ACE Ltd.

     92,479         8,652,335   

The Allstate Corp.

     119,680         6,049,824   

American International Group, Inc.

     288,641         14,036,612   

Assured Guaranty Ltd.

     247,204         4,635,075   

Axis Capital Holdings Ltd.

     156,000         6,756,360   

Genworth Financial, Inc., Class A(a)

     81,639         1,044,163   

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

     226,310         7,042,767   

MetLife, Inc.

     336,675         15,806,891   

Willis Group Holdings PLC

     115,350         4,998,116   

WR Berkley Corp.

     27,976         1,199,051   
     

 

 

 
        70,221,194   
     

 

 

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts (1.18%)

     

American Tower Corp.

     120,260         8,914,874   

Camden Property Trust

     62,419         3,835,023   
     

 

 

 
        12,749,897   
     

 

 

 

Real Estate Management & Development (0.21%)

     

Zillow, Inc., Class A(a)

     26,972         2,275,628   
     

 

 

 

HEALTH CARE (9.79%)

     

Biotechnology (1.55%)

     

BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.(a)

     81,945         5,918,068   

Celgene Corp.(a)

     38,900         5,987,877   

Gilead Sciences, Inc.(a)

     77,224         4,852,756   
     

 

 

 
        16,758,701   
     

 

 

 

Health Care Equipment & Supplies (1.91%)

     

Becton, Dickinson & Co.

     43,350         4,335,867   

Edwards Lifesciences Corp.(a)

     75,815         5,278,998   

Hologic, Inc.(a)

     186,452         3,850,234   

Zimmer Holdings, Inc.

     87,000         7,146,180   
     

 

 

 
        20,611,279   
     

 

 

 

Health Care Providers & Services (2.55%)

     

Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.(a)

     232,492         6,114,540   

Catamaran Corp.(a)

     170,979         7,856,485   

Cigna Corp.

     70,375         5,409,022   

Express Scripts Holding Co.(a)

     54,800         3,385,544   

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings(a)

     47,850         4,743,849   
     

 

 

 
        27,509,440   
     

 

 

 

Health Care Technology (1.29%)

     

athenahealth, Inc.(a)

     45,900         4,982,904   

Cerner Corp.(a)

     170,968         8,984,369   
     

 

 

 
        13,967,273   
     

 

 

 

Life Sciences Tools & Services (0.44%)

     

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

     52,000         4,791,800   
     

 

 

 


     SHARES      MARKET VALUE  

COMMON STOCKS (continued)

     

Pharmaceuticals (2.05%)

     

Abbott Laboratories

     97,525       $ 3,236,855   

Allergan, Inc.

     59,900         5,417,955   

Johnson & Johnson

     86,500         7,498,685   

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.(b)

     159,000         6,007,020   
     

 

 

 
        22,160,515   
     

 

 

 

INDUSTRIALS (7.71%)

     

Aerospace & Defense (2.22%)

     

The Boeing Co.

     26,970         3,168,975   

L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.

     53,950         5,098,275   

Northrop Grumman Corp.

     34,450         3,281,707   

Precision Castparts Corp.

     46,768         10,627,560   

Textron, Inc.

     65,841         1,817,870   
     

 

 

 
        23,994,387   
     

 

 

 

Airlines (0.26%)

     

US Airways Group, Inc.(a)

     145,200         2,752,992   
     

 

 

 

Building Products (0.43%)

     

Masco Corp.

     218,425         4,648,084   
     

 

 

 

Construction & Engineering (0.47%)

     

Fluor Corp.

     71,685         5,086,768   
     

 

 

 

Electrical Equipment (0.64%)

     

Emerson Electric Co.

     107,500         6,955,250   
     

 

 

 

Machinery (1.67%)

     

Caterpillar, Inc.

     61,800         5,152,266   

Joy Global, Inc.

     77,083         3,934,316   

Navistar International Corp.(a)

     123,127         4,491,673   

Parker Hannifin Corp.

     41,150         4,473,828   
     

 

 

 
        18,052,083   
     

 

 

 

Professional Services (0.59%)

     

Verisk Analytics, Inc., Class A(a)

     98,300         6,385,568   
     

 

 

 

Trading Companies & Distributors (1.12%)

     

Fastenal Co.

     130,082         6,536,620   

United Rentals, Inc.(a)

     95,716         5,579,286   
     

 

 

 
        12,115,906   
     

 

 

 

Transportation Infrastructure (0.31%)

     

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, Inc.

     286,345         3,396,052   
     

 

 

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (19.52%)

     

Communications Equipment (3.29%)

     

Cisco Systems, Inc.

     361,577         8,468,134   

QUALCOMM, Inc.

     402,353         27,102,498   
     

 

 

 
        35,570,632   
     

 

 

 

Computers & Peripherals (2.12%)

     

Dell, Inc.

     433,522         5,969,598   

Hewlett-Packard Co.

     655,850         13,759,733   

Stratasys Ltd.(a)

     31,393         3,178,855   
     

 

 

 
        22,908,186   
     

 

 

 

Electronic Equipment & Instruments (1.70%)

     

Corning, Inc.

     455,000         6,638,450   

LG Display Co. Ltd.(b)

     43,560         519,671   


     SHARES      MARKET VALUE  

COMMON STOCKS (continued)

     

Electronic Equipment & Instruments (continued)

     

TE Connectivity Ltd.

     217,325       $ 11,253,088   
     

 

 

 
        18,411,209   
     

 

 

 

Internet Software & Services (4.45%)

     

eBay, Inc.(a)

     63,026         3,516,221   

Equinix, Inc.(a)

     36,145         6,638,029   

Google, Inc., Class A(a)

     30,083         26,350,000   

LinkedIn Corp., Class A(a)

     37,216         9,157,369   

Rackspace Hosting, Inc.(a)

     47,037         2,481,672   
     

 

 

 
        48,143,291   
     

 

 

 

IT Services (1.69%)

     

Visa, Inc., Class A

     73,968         14,135,285   

The Western Union Co.

     219,722         4,100,012   
     

 

 

 
        18,235,297   
     

 

 

 

Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (1.03%)

     

Altera Corp.

     110,360         4,100,978   

ARM Holdings PLC(b)

     146,300         7,039,956   
     

 

 

 
        11,140,934   
     

 

 

 

Software (5.24%)

     

Citrix Systems, Inc.(a)

     76,074         5,371,585   

Microsoft Corp.

     437,100         14,559,801   

Oracle Corp.

     233,875         7,757,634   

Salesforce.com, Inc.(a)

     369,300         19,170,363   

Splunk, Inc.(a)

     83,300         5,001,332   

VMware, Inc., Class A(a)

     58,900         4,765,010   
     

 

 

 
        56,625,725   
     

 

 

 

MATERIALS (2.40%)

     

Chemicals (1.49%)

     

EI du Pont de Nemours & Co.

     65,000         3,806,400   

Praxair, Inc.

     50,400         6,058,584   

The Sherwin-Williams Co.

     34,318         6,252,053   
     

 

 

 
        16,117,037   
     

 

 

 

Metals & Mining (0.91%)

     

Alcoa, Inc.

     124,420         1,010,291   

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.

     152,235         5,035,934   

Silver Wheaton Corp.

     150,520         3,728,380   
     

 

 

 
        9,774,605   
     

 

 

 

UTILITIES (0.63%)

     

Electric Utilities (0.48%)

     

Entergy Corp.

     80,975         5,116,810   

FirstEnergy Corp.

     2,200         80,190   
     

 

 

 
        5,197,000   
     

 

 

 

Independent Power Producers & Energy Traders (0.15%)

     

NRG Energy, Inc.

     57,831         1,580,521   
     

 

 

 

TOTAL COMMON STOCKS

(COST OF $912,909,294)

        1,050,127,290   
     

 

 

 


     PAR VALUE      MARKET VALUE  

SHORT TERM INVESTMENT (2.88%)

     

REPURCHASE AGREEMENT (2.88%)

     

Repurchase agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Co., dated 09/30/13, due 10/01/13 at 0.01%, collateralized by Federal National Mortgage Association 3.00%, 03/15/43, market value of $31,806,098 (Repurchase proceeds of $31,163,009)

(COST OF $31,163,000)

   $ 31,163,000       $ 31,163,000   
     

 

 

 

TOTAL INVESTMENTS (100.04%)

(COST OF $944,072,294)(c)

        1,081,290,290   

LIABILITIES IN EXCESS OF OTHER ASSETS (-0.04%)

        (430,594)   
     

 

 

 

NET ASSETS (100.00%)

      $ 1,080,859,696   
     

 

 

 

NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

(174,433,105 SHARES OUTSTANDING)

      $ 6.20   
     

 

 

 

Notes to Schedule of Investments:

(a)  Non-income producing security.
(b)  American Depositary Receipt.
(c)  Cost of investments for federal income tax purposes is $951,973,799.

Gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation at September 30, 2013 based on cost of investment for federal income tax purpose is as follows:

 

Gross unrealized appreciation

   $ 209,304,626       

Gross unrealized depreciation

     (79,988,135)       

Net unrealized appreciation

   $   129,316,491       
          

For Fund compliance purposes, the Fund’s industry classifications refer to any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or ratings group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. This definition may not apply for purposes of this report, which may combine industry sub-classifications for reporting ease. Industries are shown as a percent of net assets.

See Notes to Schedule of Investments.


LIBERTY ALL STAR EQUITY FUND

Notes to Schedule of Investments

September 30, 2013 (unaudited)

Security Valuation

Equity securities including common stocks are valued at the last sale price at the close of the principal exchange on which they trade, except for securities listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (“NASDAQ”) exchange, which are valued at the NASDAQ official closing price. Unlisted securities or listed securities for which there were no sales during the day are valued at the closing bid price on such exchanges or over-the-counter markets.

Short-term debt obligations maturing in more than 60 days for which market quotations are readily available are valued at current market value. Short-term debt obligations maturing within 60 days are valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value.

Investments for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith under consistently applied procedures approved by and under the general supervision of the Board of Trustees.

Foreign Securities

The Fund may directly purchase securities of foreign issuers. Investing in securities of foreign issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers. The risks include possible reevaluation of currencies, the inability to repatriate foreign currency, less complete financial information about companies and possible future adverse political and economic developments. Moreover, securities of many foreign issuers and their markets may be less liquid and their prices more volatile than those of securities of comparable U.S. issuers. For the period ended September 30, 2013, the Fund only held American Depositary Receipts and did not hold any securities denominated in foreign currencies.

Security Transactions

Security transactions are recorded on trade date. Cost is determined and gains/(losses) are based upon the specific identification method for both financial statement and federal income tax purposes.

Repurchase Agreements

The Fund engages in repurchase agreement transactions with institutions that the Fund’s investment advisor has determined are creditworthy. The Fund, through its custodian, receives delivery of underlying securities collateralizing a repurchase agreement. Collateral is at least equal, at all times, to the value of the repurchase obligation including interest. A repurchase agreement transaction involves certain risks in the event of default or insolvency of the counterparty. These risks include possible delays or restrictions upon a Fund’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities and a possible decline in the value of the underlying securities during the period while the Fund seeks to assert its rights.

Income Recognition

Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Corporate actions and dividend income are recorded on the ex-date.

The Fund estimates components of distributions from real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). Distributions received in excess of income are recorded as a reduction of the cost of the related investments. Once the REIT reports annually the tax character of its distributions, the Fund revises its estimates. If the Fund no longer owns the applicable securities, any distributions received in excess of income are recorded as realized gains.

Fair Value Measurements

The Fund discloses the classification of its fair value measurements following a three-tier hierarchy based on the inputs used to measure fair value. Inputs refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. Inputs may be observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on the best information available.


Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments as of the end of the reporting period. When inputs used fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the level in the hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The designated input levels are not necessarily an indication of the risk or liquidity associated with these investments. These inputs are categorized in the following hierarchy under applicable financial accounting standards:

 

Level 1     Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments, unrestricted assets or liabilities that a Fund has the ability to access at the measurement date;
Level 2     Quoted prices which are not active, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable (either directly or indirectly) for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and
Level 3     Significant unobservable prices or inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments) where there is little or no market activity for the asset or liability at the measurement date.

The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the Fund’s investments as of September 30, 2013. The Fund recognizes transfers between the levels as of the beginning of the annual period in which the transfer occurred.

 

     Valuation Inputs         
Investments in Securities at Value*    Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Common Stocks

   $ 1,050,127,290       $       $       $ 1,050,127,290  

Short Term Investment

             31,163,000                31,163,000  

Total

   $ 1,050,127,290       $ 31,163,000       $   –       $ 1,081,290,290  
                                     

*See Schedule of Investments for industry classification.

For the period ended September 30, 2013, the Fund did not have any transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 securities. The Fund did not have any securities which used significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) in determining fair value during the period.

Indemnification

In the normal course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties and which provide general indemnities. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims against the Fund. Also, under the Fund’s organizational documents and by contract, the Directors and Officers of the Fund are indemnified against certain liabilities that may arise out of their duties to the Fund. However, based on experience, the Fund expects the risk of loss due to these warranties and indemnities to be minimal.


Item 2 - Controls and Procedures.

 

  (a) The registrant’s Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer have evaluated the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) within 90 days of this filing and have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective, as of that date.

 

  (b) There was no change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) during registrant’s last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Item 3 – Exhibits.

Separate certifications for the registrant’s Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, as required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, are attached as Ex99.CERT.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

LIBERTY ALL-STAR EQUITY FUND
By:   

/s/ William Parmentier

   William Parmentier
   President (principal executive officer)
Date:    November 21, 2013

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

By:   

/s/ William Parmentier

   William Parmentier
   President (principal executive officer)
Date:    November 21, 2013
By:   

/s/ Kimberly Storms

   Kimberly Storms
   Treasurer (principal financial officer)
Date:    November 21, 2013