Lazard Global Strategic Equity Portfolio
Lazard Global Strategic Equity Portfolio will pursue long-term capital appreciation by investing in a global portfolio of firms with “sustainably high or improving returns and trading at attractive valuations.” While legally diversified, they expect to hold a fairly small number of charges. They also maintain the right to go to cash, just in case. The fund will be managed by a team drawn from Lazard’s International, Global and European Equity teams. The initial expense ratio will be 1.40%. The minimum initial investment is $2500.
Lazard International Equity Concentrated Portfolio
Lazard International Equity Concentrated Portfolio will pursue long-term capital appreciation by investing in underpriced growth companies, typically domiciled in developed markets. The plan is to invest in 20-30 stocks, with the proviso that they might invest in EM domiciled stocks, too. The EM portion is weirdly capped: they might invest “an amount up to the current emerging markets component of the Morgan Stanley Capital International All Country World Index ex-US plus 15%.” The fund will be managed by Lazard’s international equity team. The initial expense ratio 1.45%. The minimum initial investment is $2500.
Lazard US Small Cap Equity Growth Portfolio
Lazard US Small Cap Equity Growth Portfolio will pursuelong-term capital appreciation by investing in domestic small cap growth stocks. (Woo hoo!) The fund will be managed by Frank L. Sustersic, head of Lazard’s small cap growth team. The initial expense ratio 1.37%. The minimum initial investment is $2500.
New Sheridan Developing World Fund
New Sheridan Developing World Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation by investing in the stock of firms tied to the emerging markets. Which stocks? Uhhh, “[t] he Adviser analyzes countries, sectors and individual securities based on a set of predetermined factors.” So, stocks matching their predetermined factors. The fund will be managed by Russell and Richard Hoss. They don’t advertise any prior EM track record. Both previously worked for Roth Capital Partners, “an investment banking firm dedicated to the small-cap public market.” The initial expense ratio has not yet been disclosed, though there will be a 2% redemption fee on shares held less than a month. The minimum initial investment is $2500.
PCS Commodity Strategy Fund
PCS Commodity Strategy Fund, N shares, will try to replicate the returns of the Rogers International Commodity Index. The plan is to hold a combination of derivations and high-quality bonds. The fund will be managed by a four person team. The initial expense ratio will be 1.35%. The minimum initial investment is $5,000.
Schwab Fundamental Global Real Estate Index Fund
Schwab Fundamental Global Real Estate Index Fundwill try to replicate the returns of the Russell Fundamental Global Select Real Estate Index. They might not be able to reproduce all of the index investments but will try to match the returns. They’ll invest in a global REIT portfolio which includes emerging markets but excludes timber and mortgage REITs. The fund will be managed by two Schwabies: Agnes Hong and Ferian Juwono. The initial expense ratio is not yet disclosed, though the existence of a 2% early redemption fee is. The minimum initial investment is $100, through Schwab of course.
T. Rowe Price Institutional Frontier Markets Equity Fund
T. Rowe Price Institutional Frontier Markets Equity Fund will pursue long-term growth by investing in the stocks of firms whose home countries are not in the MSCI All Country World Index. Examples include Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Trinidad and Tobago. The discipline is Price’s standard bottom-up, GARP investing. The fund will be managed by Oliver D.M. Bell who also runs Price Africa and Middle East (TRAMX). The initial expense ratio will be 1.35%. The minimum initial investment is $1,000,000. A little high for my budget, but it’s good to know where the industry leaders are going so we thought we’d mention it.
T. Rowe Price International Concentrated Equity Fund
T. Rowe Price International Concentrated Equity Fund will pursuelong-term growth of capital through investments in stocks of 40-60 non-U.S. companies. They’re registered as non-diversified which means they might put a lot into a few of those stocks. The fund will be managed by Federico Santilli. The initial expense ratio is 0.90%. The minimum initial investment is $2500, reduced to $1000 for IRAs.
WST Asset Manager – U.S. Bond Fund
WST Asset Manager – U.S. Bond Fund will pursue total return from income and capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in both investment grade and junk bonds, with their “a proprietary quantitative model” telling them how much to allocate to each strategy. They warn that the model’s allocation “may change frequently,” so that investors might expect turnover “significantly greater than 100%.” The fund will be managed by Wayne F. Wilbanks, the advisor’s CIO, Roger H. Scheffel Jr. and Tom McNally. They began managing separate accounts using this strategy in 2006. Since then those accounts have returned an average of 9.3% per year while the average multisector bond fund earned 6%. They trail their peer group for the past one- and three-year periods and exceed it modestly for the past five years. That signals the fact that the accounts performed exceptionally well in the 2006-08 period, though details are absent. The initial expense ratio is a stunning 1.81%. The minimum initial investment is $1000.
