This space is usually reserved to highlight niche funds or broad investment themes. In this issue we have chosen to profile a fund many investors have overlooked in spite of its diversified, lower-risk growth strategy. This underappreciated fund boasts a solid track record and a management team willing to eat its own cooking, making it an attractive offering for investors looking to add alpha to their portfolio.

Aston/TAMRO Diversified Equity (ATLVX) has built an impressive track record over the past decade. The fund returned 5.9 percent over that period and ranked the top 5 percent of large-growth funds, according to Morningstar data. The fund’s performance over the short term ranks near the top of its category on both a three- and five-year basis.

That success stems from the disciplined investment process and philosophy of Philip Tasho, CEO of TAMRO Capital Partners, who has helmed the fund since its inception in 2000. In March 2010, Tasho was joined by co-manager Tim Holland, a five-year veteran of the firm.

The duo seeks to invest in time-tested companies with solid growth prospects and a sustainable competitive advantage. Tasho believes superior companies possess three important traits.

“The first is differentiated product or service offerings in which the company has a leading market share and a sustainable competitive advantage,” Tasho said. “Next we look for a troika of a visionary CEO, a capable chief operating officer and a chief financial officer who’s adept at capital allocation, all of whom have worked well together through both good times and bad. Finally, we look for flexible financials and historically wise allocation of capital.”

But management doesn’t simply purchase any company they like. Tasho and Holland will only buy when then price is right and the stock’s upside potential is 3 times greater than the downside risk.

That valuation-sensitive approach makes it tough to pigeonhole Aston/TAMRO Diversified Equity into any one style box; Morningstar has reclassified the fund three times in the past decade. As a result, the fund has struggled to attract and retain institutional investors despite its superior performance. The fund’s asset base has fluctuated from about $10 million early last decade, to a high of $145 million in 2006, to its current $20 million.

The fund’s diminutive asset base, combined with the firm’s relatively modest asset base of about $1.5 billion, makes economies of scale difficult to realize. Consequently, Aston/TAMRO Diversified Equity’s expense ratio runs slightly high at 1.2 percent.

The cost would usually raise a red flag. But expenses for TAMRO’s other offering–Aston/TAMRO Small Cap–have fallen slightly over the past decade and Holland said the firm will pass on cost savings to investors as the fund grows.

The fund’s insider ownership levels indicate that management is working in the interest of shareholders. The fund’s Statement of Additional Information shows that Tasho has invested $1 million in the fund, likely making him the largest individual shareholder. Holland is reported to have invested between $100,000 and $500,000 in the fund.

The portfolio currently reflects three compelling investment themes: changing fundamentals in the energy space, growing agricultural demand and a shift in the technology space to favor cloud computing.

Tasho and Holland have adopted a bold strategy for playing the energy sector. The duo believes the best energy opportunities lay in North American natural gas assets. The clean-burning energy source is priced on a regional basis and currently trades at a significant discount to its historical relationship to crude oil. However, management believes natural gas will gradually transition to a globally priced commodity. This means that the gap between the low price paid in the US and the higher price commanded in Europe will close as important sources of global supply, such as North Africa, become more unsettled.

Based on that view, Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) is the largest single position in the portfolio at just over 3 percent of assets. The firm boasts a huge reserve base and the lowest finding costs of any industry player at 71 cents per million cubic feet. This allows Range Resources to turn a profit even with natural gas prices at depressed levels. The firm is planning to reduce its finding costs to 65 cents by selling off some its higher priced reserves, greatly enhancing profitability.

With bold positioning and a solid strategy, this fund won’t remain unknown for much longer, particularly as assets grow and expenses fall.