Acuitas International Small Cap Fund
Acuitas International Small Cap Fund will seek via investing in (duh) international small cap stocks. Small caps range up to $4 billion. The fund will be managed by multiple sub-advisors including Advisory Research, Algert Coldiron Investors, and DePrince, Race & Zollo. The minimum initial investment is $2500. The opening expense ratio has not been set.
Acuitas Us Microcap Fund
Acuitas Us Microcap Fund will seek capital appreciation via investing in (duh) US microcap stocks. Small caps range up to $1 billion. The fund will be managed by multiple sub-advisors including Clarivest Asset Management, Falcon Point Capital, and Opus Capital Management. Falcon Point has a reasonably successful microcap strategy with a three year record; the two other advisers don’t advertise a dedicated microcap strategy. The minimum initial investment is $2500. The opening expense ratio has not been set.
AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund
AMG Renaissance International Equity Fund will seek long-term growth by investing in 50-60 global equities. There’s no clearly articulated discipline. Up to one-third of the portfolio might be EM companies. The fund will be managed by Joe G. Bruening of Renaissance Group. The minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $1,000 for IRAs. The opening expense ratio will be 1.30%.
Catalyst Activist Investor Fund
Catalyst Activist Investor Fund will seek long term capital appreciation by investing in stocks of companies that are experiencing significant activist investor activity. Those are mostly domestic large caps, but the manager is free to go elsewhere. The fund is classified as non-diversifed. The fund will be managed by David Miller of Catalyst. The minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $100 for accounts with an automatic investing plan. The opening expense ratio is 1.25%.
Catalyst Insider Income Fund
Catalyst Insider Income Fund will seek “high current income with low interest rate sensitivity” by investing in the short-term bonds of corporations whose executives are buying back the firm’s common stock. They’ve extensively back-tested the strategy (oh good!) and they believe it will allow them to avoid companies at risk of bankruptcy. I’m as-yet unclear how much of a risk bankruptcy is for investors looking to buy short-term bonds. The fund will be managed by David Miller. The minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $100 for accounts with an automatic investing plan. The opening expense ratio is 1.20%.
Catalyst Absolute Total Return Fund
Catalyst Absolute Total Return Fund will seek “sustainable income and capital appreciation with positive returns in all market conditions.” The not-entirely-unique plan is to be high dividend securities and sell covered calls. The fund will be managed by Shawn Blau of ATR Advisors. His separate account composite, dating back to 2003, strikes me as very solid. He had one disastrous year (2007, when he dropped 15% while the market was up 5%), a very strong performance in 2008 (down 1%) and a string of years in which he outperformed the S&P. They have not yet released the calculation of annualized returns, just year by year ones. The minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $100 for accounts with an automatic investing plan. The opening expense ratio is 1.75%.
Catalyst/Stone Beach Income Opportunity Fund
Catalyst/Stone Beach Income Opportunity Fund will seek “high current income consistent with total return and capital preservation” by investing primarily in mortgage-backed securities (akin to Gundlach’s specialty at DoubleLine). The fund will be managed by David Lysenko and Ed Smith of Stone Beach Investment Management. The firm’s hedge fund, using the same strategy, has dramatically outperformed an MBS index. The minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $100 for accounts with an automatic investing plan. The opening expense ratio is 1.30%.
Catalyst/Groesbeck Aggressive Growth Fund
Catalyst/Groesbeck Aggressive Growth Fund will seek long term capital appreciation by investing in small- to mid-cap domestic growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Robert Groesbeck of Groesbeck Investment Management. The minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $100 for accounts with an automatic investing plan. The opening expense ratio is 1.30%.
Cupps All Cap Growth Fund
Cupps All Cap Growth Fund will seek “growth of capital over a long-term investment period” via investing in domestic growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Andrew S. Cupps, former manager (1998-2000) of Strong Enterprise Fund. He also runs separate accounts in the same style, but has not yet released their performance record. The minimum initial investment is $2,000. The opening expense ratio is not yet set.
Cupps Mid Cap Growth Fund
Cupps Mid Cap Growth Fund will seek long-term growth via investing in domestic mid-cap growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Andrew S. Cupps, former manager (1998-2000) of Strong Enterprise Fund. That fund had the typical meteoric path up (a 54% gain in his first 16 months) and down (a 39% loss in his last six months). He also runs separate accounts in the same style, but has not yet released their performance record. The minimum initial investment is $2,000. The opening expense ratio is not yet set.
HCM Tactical Growth Fund
HCM Tactical Growth Fund, “R” shares, will seek long-term capital appreciation via market timing. Their proprietary HCM – BuyLine® model will dictate whether they’re in cash or equities. When they’re in equities, the portfolio will be divided between individual stocks and funds. The fund will be managed by Vance Howard of Howard Capital Management. There’s no evidence in the prospectus that documents any previous success with this expensive strategy. The minimum initial investment is $2500, reduced to $1000 for IRAs. The opening expense ratio will be 1.98%.
LSV U.S. Managed Volatility Fund
LSV U.S. Managed Volatility Fund will seek long-term growth via investing in low-volatility value stocks. The fund will be managed byJosef Lakonishok, CEO, CIO, and Partner, Menno Vermeulen, and Puneet Mansharamani. Lakonishok is a famous academic who pioneered much of the behavioral finance field. He and his team have a separate accounts composite that has slightly bested the S&P 500 (presumably with less volatility) since 2010. The team also runs three four-star equity funds which, ironically, are marked by distinctly elevated volatility. The minimum initial investment is $1,000. The opening expense ratio will be 0.80%.
LSV GLOBAL Managed Volatility Fund
LSV GLOBAL Managed Volatility Fund will seek long-term growth via investing in low-volatility global stocks. The fund will be managed by Josef Lakonishok, CEO, CIO, and Partner, Menno Vermeulen, and Puneet Mansharamani. Lakonishok is a famous academic who pioneered much of the behavioral finance field. He and his team have a separate accounts composite that has slightly bested the S&P 500 (presumably with less volatility) since 2010. The team also runs three four-star equity funds which, ironically, are marked by distinctly elevated volatility. The minimum initial investment is $1,000. The opening expense ratio will be 1.0%.
North Star Bond Fund
North Star Bond Fund, I shares,will seek via investing in bonds, convertible securities and (potentially) equities issued by small cap companies. That’s certainly distinctive. The fund will be managed by a team that includes their microcap equity and opportunistic equity managers. The minimum initial investment is $5,000. The opening expense ratio is not yet set.
Rothschild Larch Lane Alternatives Fund
Rothschild Larch Lane Alternatives Fund will seek “to generate consistent returns relative to risk and maintain low correlation to equity and bond markets” by pursuing a jumble of hedge fund-inspired trading strategies. The fund will be managed by Ellington Management Group, Karya Capital, Mizuho Alternative Investments, and Winton Capital Management. The minimum initial investment is $1,000 for Investor shares or $10,000 for Institutional ones. The opening expense ratio will be 2.86% for the Investor shares.
Sound Point Floating Rate Income Fund
Sound Point Floating Rate Income Fund will seek “to provide a high level of current income consistent with strong risk-adjusted returns” via investing primarily in senior floating rate loans. The fund will be managed by Stephen Ketchum, principal owner of Sound Point Capital Management, and Rick Richert. They ran this portfolio as a closed-end fund, with modest success, in 2013. The minimum initial investment is $1,000. The opening expense ratio will be 1.15%.
The Tocqueville Alternative Strategies Fund
The Tocqueville Alternative Strategies Fund will seek “higher returns and lower volatility than the S&P 500 Index over a 3-5 year time horizon” and positive absolute returns over any two year period by using long-biased and market neutral arbitrage trading strategies. The fund will be managed by as as-yet unnamed person. The minimum initial investment is $1,000, reduced to $250 for IRAs. The opening expense ratio is not yet set.
