American Beacon AHL Managed Futures Strategy Fund

American Beacon AHL Managed Futures Strategy Fund will pursue capital growth. The strategy will be to be use futures, options and forward contracts linked to stock indices, currencies, bonds, interest rates, energy, metals and agricultural products. They’ll invest in areas with positive price momentum and short ones with negative momentum; the prospectus doesn’t give much detail, though, on the use of shorting and hedges. The prospectus does offer an admirable amount of detail concerning the sorts of risk that this strategy entails. The enumerated risks include:

The fund will be managed by Matthew Sargaison and Russell Korgaonkar of AHL Partners LLP.  The opening expense ratio is 1.93% after waivers. The minimum initial investment is $ 2500.

American Beacon Bahl & Gaynor Small Cap Growth Fund

American Beacon Bahl & Gaynor Small Cap Growth Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The strategy will be to invest in high-quality dividend-paying small cap stocks. The managers pursue a fundamental approach to security selection and a bottom-up approach to portfolio construction. The fund will be managed by Edward Woods, Scott Rodes and Stephanie Thomas of Bahl & Gaynor. The opening expense ratio is 1.37% after waivers. The minimum initial investment is $2500.

American Century Emerging Markets Debt Fund

American Century Emerging Markets Debt Fund will pursue capital growth. The strategy will be to invest in dollar-denominated debt instruments issued by E.M. governments and corporations. The managers may invest in both investment grade and high-yield debt. They’ll attempt to hedge other sorts of risk, including currencies, interest rates and individual country risk. The fund will be managed by a team led byMargé Karner, who just joined American Century after serving as a senior portfolio managers for E.M. debt at HSBC Global Asset Management. The opening expense ratio is 0.97%. The minimum initial investment is $2500, reduced to $2000 for Coverdell education savings accounts.

Coho Relative Value Equity Fund

Coho Relative Value Equity Fund will pursue total return. The strategy will be to invest in mid- to large-cap dividend-paying stocks. The portfolio will generally be comprised of 20 to 35 equity securities that demonstrate “stability, dividend- and cash-flow growth.” The fund will be managed by Brian Kramp and Peter Thompson of Coho Investment Partners. The opening expense ratio is 1.30% plus a 2% redemption fee on shares held fewer than 60 days. The minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $500 for retirement accounts.

Emerald Insights Fund

Emerald Insights Fund will seek long-term growth through capital appreciation. Their preference is for “[c]ompanies with perceived leadership positions and competitive advantages in niche markets that do not receive significant coverage from other institutional investors.” The fund will be managed by David Volpe, a managing director at Emerald. The opening expense ratio is 1.40% after waivers. The minimum initial investment is $2000.

Horizon Active Risk Assist Fund

Horizon Active Risk Assist Fund “seeks to capture the majority of the returns associated with equity market investments, while exposing investors to less risk than other equity investments.”  The plan is to invest in up to 30 ETFs representing about a dozen asset classes, then to hedge that exposure with their “risk assist” strategy. “Risk Assist is an active de-risking strategy intended to guard against catastrophic market events and maximum drawdowns.” Translation: they’ll hold cash and Treasuries. The fund will be managed by a team headed by Horizon’s president, Robbie Cannon. Normal operating expenses are capped at 1.42%.  The minimum initial investment is $2500.

Lyrical Liquid Hedged Fund

Lyrical Liquid Hedged Fund will pursue long-term capital growth. The strategy will be to invest under normal circumstances in liquid long and short equity positions in an attempt to benefit from rising markets and hedge against falling markets.  They expect to be at last 40% net long usually. The “liquid” part means “easily traded securities,” which translates mostly to mid- and large-cap US stocks. The fund will be managed by Andrew Wellington, CIO of Lyrical Asset Management, LP. The opening expense ratio is 2.20% after waivers.  The minimum initial investment is $2,500.

Scharf Global Opportunity Fund

Scharf Global Opportunity Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The strategy will be to invest in a global collection of “growth stocks at value prices” (their wording), though they could invest up to 30% in fixed income. The fund will be managed by Brian A. Krawez, president of the advisor. The opening expense ratio is 0.51% after a waiver of about 250 bps, plus a 2.0% redemption fees on shares held fewer than 15 days.  (15 days?  Really?)  The minimum initial investment is $10,000, reduced to $5,000 for tax-advantaged accounts or those set up with automatic investing plans.

Sirius S&P Strategic Large-Cap Allocation Fund

Sirius S&P Strategic Large-Cap Allocation Fund seeks long term growth and preservation of capital through investment in large cap equity and market index funds. At base, they’ll invest – long and short – in the S&P 500 index, companies or sectors.  The fund will be managed by Sirius Fund Advisor’s founder, Constance D. Russello. The expense ratio is not yet set.  The minimum initial investment is $2500.

V2 Hedged Equity Fund

V2 Hedged Equity will seek to provide long-term capital appreciation with reduced volatility. The fund may invest up to 100% in 30-50 stocks in the S&P500 and (2) up to 100% in CBOE FLexible EXchange index call options. The prospectus makes two claims that I can’t immediately reconcile: “the Adviser seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by investing at least 90% of its net assets in U.S. common stocks” and “The net long exposure of the Fund (gross long exposures minus gross short exposures) is usually expected to be between 20% and 80%.” In 2010, the adviser had four separate accounts which used this strategy for private investors. In 2012, those four accounts morphed into the core of a hedge fund using the strategy.  In July, the hedge fund will become the mutual fund’s institutional class. From August 2010 to December 2013, the strategy returned 14.16% annually which compares favorably to the 5.74% earned by the average long/short fund over that same period. Victor Viner and Brett Novosel of V2 will manage the account.  The minimum initial investment will be $5,000.

Weitz Core Plus Income Fund

Weitz Core Plus Income Fund will pursue current income, capital preservation and long-term capital appreciation. They’ll invest in “debt securities” which includes preferred stock, foreign bonds, and taxable munis as well as more-traditional fare. Up to 25% of the portfolio might be invested in non-investment grade debt. They can also use various derivatives “for investment purposes consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and [to] mitigate or hedge risks.” They anticipate an average portfolio maturity of about 10 years. Thomas D. Carney, a portfolio manager since 1996, and Nolan P. Anderson of Weitz Investment Management will run the fund.  The initial expense ratio will be 0.85% for the Investor class shares. The minimum initial investment is $2500.

William Blair Bond Fund

William Blair Bond Fund will try to “outperfrorm the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate Index by maximizing total return through a combination of income and capital appreciation.” They’ll invest in dollar-denominated, investment grade securities, issued both here and overseas. They might also sneak in a few bond-like equity securities. The fund will be managed by James Kaplan, Christopher Vincent, and Benjamin Armstrong, whose “core fixed income composite” seems not to have performed noticeably better than the index over the past decade. The initial expense ratio will be 0.65%. The minimum initial investment is $5000, reduced to $3000 for IRAs.