A great month, especially if you’re rich. AQR has two new bonds funds tagged for $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 minimums. DFA has registered to launch Emerging Markets Sustainability Core 1 Portfolio and Global Core Plus Fixed Income Portfolio, kept so far from the hoi polloi that they don’t even list investment minimums. Rather, we suppose, like the restaurants that don’t list prices on the menu. Likewise, the Martin Currie Emerging Markets SMA Shares Fund will only be available to Legg Mason’s SMA customers. Joel Greenblatt has filed his latest fund, Gotham 500 Plus Fund, with a quarter million dollar minimum. It’ll invest long in large caps and long/short in small- to mid-caps. 17 of his 19 other funds have peer-beating returns since inception. RMB International Small Cap Fund has a $100,000 minimum for now, though an Investor class might come along one day. The advisor has no other international funds; remember, these used to be the Burnham Funds. The RQSI GAA Systematic Global Macro Fund will set you back 2.48% and $5,000,000.
AlphaOne VIMCO Small Cap Value Fund
AlphaOne VIMCO Small Cap Value Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is for the manager (Villanova Investment Management Company) to “employing its distinctive private market value approach to public equities, while focusing on downside protection and a margin of safety.” Those seem like good things to focus on. The fund will be managed by Rastislav Berlansky and Edward A. Trumpbour. The initial e.r. is 1.66% and the minimum initial investment will be $2,500.
AlphaOne Select Technology Fund
AlphaOne Select Technology Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in technology companies. What, you might ask, is a “technology company”? It’s one which “produces, designs, markets, uses or might benefit significantly from” technology. (sigh) (Had I mentioned that the Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company, America’s last buggy whip manufacturer, uses and benefits from technology?) It will be non-diversified. The fund will be managed by Dan Niles. The initial e.r. is 1.66% and the minimum initial investment will be $2500.
Baron Real Estate Income Fund
Baron Real Estate Income Fund will pursue a combination of capital appreciation and current income. The plan is to buy the securities of businesses with “sustainable competitive advantages, exceptional management, opportunities for growth, and an attractive valuation.” And also are income-producing, and in real estate. Mostly REITs. The fund will be managed by Jeffrey A. Kolitch who has been with Baron since 2005. The initial e.r. has not been released and the minimum initial investment will be $2,000, reduced to $500 for accounts established with an automatic investing plan.
Baron WealthBuilder Fund
Baron WealthBuilder Fund will pursue capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in a mix of the other Baron funds. The only hint we get about what mix is that the fund will be global and the max portfolio weight for the individual holdings ranges from 15-30%. The fund will be managed by Ron Baron. The initial e.r. has not been released and the minimum initial investment will be $2,000, reduced to $500 for accounts established with an automatic investing plan.
Baron Durable Advantage Fund
Baron Durable Advantage Fund will pursue capital appreciation.. The plan is to buy mostly domestic large cap stocks from firms that are “unique, well-managed, competitively advantaged” and which “generate significant excess free cash flow that is consistently returned to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and/or dividends.” The fund will be managed by Alex Umansky. The initial e.r. has not been released and the minimum initial investment will be $2,000, reduced to $500 for accounts established with an automatic investing plan.
Brandes Value NextShares
Brandes Value NextShares, an active ETF, will pursue long term capital appreciation. The plan is to … well, do nothing special so far as I can tell. The four sentence description of the discipline says they’ll buy “securities that are selling at a discount.” Brandes doesn’t have any US-focused funds; their international and global funds are, on whole, strong and reasonably priced. The fund will be managed by a four person team from Brandes Investment Partners. The initial e.r. will be 0.40%.
Cambria Covered Call Strategy ETF
Cambria Covered Call Strategy, an actively-managed ETF, will pursue . The plan is to buy other exchanged-traded products (ETFs, ETNs and, generically, ETPs) and write quarterly exchange-traded covered call options on each. The fund will be managed by David Pursell, Mebane T. Faber and Eric W. Richardson. Mr. Faber is, our colleague Charles attests, very, very smart. Still, lots of managers have died on this particular hill. The initial e.r. has not yet been disclosed.
Deutsche Short Duration High Income Fund, “S” shares
Deutsche Short Duration High Income Fund will pursue high level of income, with a secondary emphasis on total return. The plan is to invest at least 65% in foreign and domestic high-yield securities, including those from emerging markets, and potentially adjustable rate notes, ETFs and cash. The fund will be managed by Gary Russell, Thomas R. Bouchard, and Mark L. Rigazio. The initial e.r. has not been disclosed and the minimum initial investment will be $2,500, reduced to $1,000 for accounts set up with automatic investing plans.
Footprints Discover Value Fund
Footprints Discover Value Fund will pursue total return from capital appreciation and income. The plan is to use fundamental analysis to determine a stock’s “absolute value” and technical analysis to determine the optimal purchase price; the manager can buy securities from anywhere within the firm’s capital structure. The fund will be managed by Stephen Lococo of Footprints Asset Management. The initial e.r. is 2.00% and the minimum initial investment will be $10,000.
Fuller & Thaler Behavioral Small-Cap Growth Fund
Fuller & Thaler Behavioral Small-Cap Growth Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to buy small growth company stocks based, in part, on the adviser’s “educated predictions of when other investors – the ‘market’ – have likely made a behavioral mistake, and in turn, have created a buying opportunity.” The fund will be managed by Frederick Stanske, Back-Up Portfolio Manager (really) to their flagship fund, and Raymond Lin, Back-Up Manager to this fund. The initial e.r. is 1.24% and the minimum initial investment will be $1,000.
Fuller & Thaler Behavioral Mid-Cap Value Fund
Fuller & Thaler Behavioral Mid-Cap Value Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to buy midcap value stocks based, in part, on the adviser’s “educated predictions of when other investors – the ‘market’ – have likely made a behavioral mistake, and in turn, have created a buying opportunity.” The fund will be managed by David Potter, who has managed Fuller & Thaler’s Small-Cap Value strategy since 2005 , Frederick Stanske, Back-up Portfolio Manager, and Ryam Lee. The initial e.r. is 1.14% and the minimum initial investment will be $1,000.
Mirae Asset Discovery Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Fund
Mirae Asset Discovery Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Fund will seek to achieve total return. The plan is to buy fixed and floating rate debt securities and debt obligations of E.M. governments and corporations. The fund will be managed by Joon Hyuk Heo and Ethan Yoon. The initial e.r. is 0.80% for “A” shares and the minimum initial investment will be $2,000, reduced to $500 for tax-advantaged accounts and those set up with an automatic investing plan. The “A” shares, at least nominally, carry a sales load.
MProved Systematic Long-Short Fund
MProved Systematic Long-Short Fund will pursue capital growth by engaging in rules-based long-short strategies. The plan is to invest in stocks of firms that they expect to be impacted by “a significant corporate or market event, including corporate actions, abnormal price movements, investor sentiment, and shifts or disruptions in the company’s balance sheet, cash flow, or earnings fundamentals or other industry and market dynamics.” The “and other stuff” always worries me a bit. In any case, they’ll go long if the security, in light of the impending event, is undervalued and short if it’s overvalued. The fund will be managed by Devin Dallaire of Magnetar Asset Management LLC. The initial e.r. has not been revealed and the minimum initial investment will be $10,000.
Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF
Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF, an actively-managed ETF, will pursue current income consistent with preservation of capital. The plan is to invest in investment-grade fixed-income securities with a focus on relative value investing on a risk-adjusted basis. The fund will be managed by Christopher T. Harms, Clifton V. Rowe, and Kurt L. Wagner. The initial e.r. has not been disclosed.
Nuveen Winslow International Small Cap Fund
Nuveen Winslow International Small Cap Fund (NWSTX) will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in companies with improving fundamental profiles as well as sustainable, above-average earnings growth, high or rising returns on invested capital and reasonable relative valuations. This is a conversion of a Winslow fund which itself seems to have been an adoption of a successful ISC portfolio. The fund will be managed by Steven M. Larson and Adam Kuhlmann of Winslow Capital Management. Mr. Larson has an unusually rich Linked In profile with rather a lot of information about his career and accolades. The initial e.r. will be 1.24% and the minimum initial investment will be $3,000.
PowerShares Ultra Short Duration Portfolio
PowerShares Ultra Short Duration Portfolio, an actively-managed ETF, will pursue maximum current income, consistent with preservation of capital and daily liquidity. The plan is to buy diversified portfolio of fixed income instruments of varying maturities, but that have an average duration of less than one year. The fund will be managed by Peter Hubbard of Invesco. The initial e.r. is 0.27%.
PowerShares Total Return Bond Portfolio
PowerShares Total Return Bond Portfolio, an actively-managed ETF, will pursue maximum total return, comprised of income and capital appreciation. The plan is to buy pretty much whatever the heck they want, but to do so based on “intensive credit research and extensive due diligence on each issuer, region and sector.” The fund will be managed by Peter Hubbard of Invesco. The initial e.r. is 0.50%.
Reinhart Intermediate Bond NextShares
Reinhart Intermediate Bond NextShares, an actively-managed ETF, will try to outperform the Barclays Capital Intermediate Government/Credit Index, measured over an entire market cycle without excess interest rate, credit, structure or liquidity risk. They’ll take into account issuers quality, visibility, liquidity and availability. Most of those are attempted to limit risks attendant to negative surprises.The fund will be managed by Michael Wachter. The initial e.r. is 0.30%.
Spyglass Growth Fund
Spyglass Growth Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to build a non-diversified, all-cap, domestic growth portfolio. They work “through thoughtful, disciplined, bottom-up fundamental research and comprehensive due diligence.” This is a converted hedge fund, Spyglass Partners, which lost 15.3% in 2016 while its benchmark rose 7.3%. The fund will be managed by James A. Robillard of Spyglass Capital Management LLC. The initial e.r. is 1.25% and the minimum initial investment will be $3,000.
Toews Agility Dynamic Tactical Income ETF
Toews Agility Dynamic Tactical Income, an actively-managed ETF, will pursue income. (If they’d included “synergistic” in the fund’s name, they would have won this month’s buzzword bingo.) The plan is to invest in foreign and domestic high-yield ETF. The fund will be managed by Phillip Toews, Randall Schroeder, Jason Graffius and Charles Collins. The initial e.r. is 1.26%.
Toews Agility Specified Risk ETF
Toews Agility Specified Risk ETF will pursue income and long-term growth of capital. The plan is to buy (read carefully, there will be a quiz) (1) equity index futures, (2) equity index options, (3) options on equity index futures, (4) options on ETFs, 5) equity ETFs, (6) equities, (7) fixed income ETFs, (8) fixed income securities and (9) cash equivalents. The fund will be managed by Phillip Toews, Randall Schroeder, Jason Graffius and Charles Collins. The initial e.r. is 1.05%.
