The SEC requires advisers to give them 75 days to review and comment upon any proposed new fund offering. During those 75 days, the advisers aren’t permitted to say anything about the funds except “please refer to our public filing with the SEC.” At peak times of the year, there might be a couple dozen no-load retail funds and active ETFs in registration. Midwinter, not so much. Fidelity’s ESG bond index might be a useful option for investors looking to express their concerns about shaping a more humane world. Beyond that, mostly nice people who don’t yet have a public track record or striking competitive advantage. They might do very well, but we’ll have to watch for a bit.
Balter Merger Opportunity Fund (BMRGX/BMERX)
Balter Merger Opportunity will pursue capital appreciation. The plan is to establish a global merger arbitrage portfolio, with the prospect of shorting one of the partners in an announced merger. The strategy works, though there are already several dominant (if not excellent) players in the field. The fund will be managed by David J. Simon, Michael D. Horgan and Brett Patelsky of Twin Securities. The initial expense ratio has not been disclosed, and the minimum initial investment will be $5,000 for the Investor share class.
Belmont Theta Income Fund
Belmont Theta Income Fund will pursue positive returns independent of market cycles, consistent with income generation. The plan is to let loose The Iron Condor. An Iron Condor, of course, is “a directionally neutral, defined risk option strategy … to sell volatility in the S&P 500 index.” The fund will be managed by Stephen Solaka and Daniel Beckwith. The initial expense ratio will be 1.99% (yikes), and the minimum initial investment will be $5,000.
Fidelity U.S. Sustainability Bond Index Fund
Fidelity U.S. Sustainability Bond Index Fund will track the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Aggregate ESG Choice Index. The plan is a bit unclear: it’s an investment grade US bond fund with ESG screens but I can’t tell if those are positive screens (they’re tilted toward “good” companies), negative ones (they simply screen out bad actors and track the “neutral to good” crowd) or something else. The fund will be managed by Brandon Bettencourt and Jay Small. The initial expense ratio will be 0.20% for Investor shares, and the minimum initial investment will be $2,500.
Rational Trend Aggregation Dividend and Income Fund
Rational Trend Aggregation Dividend and Income Fund will pursue current income while maintaining a secondary emphasis on long-term capital appreciation and low volatility. The plan is to trade bunches of income-producing securities based on trend following, mean reversion and intermarket analysis models. The fund will be managed by Matthew B. Tuttle, founder of the adviser. If I’m reading Linked In correctly, Mr. Tuttle is a private wealth adviser with Ameriprise. The initial expense ratio will be 1.62% for the no-load Institutional shares, and the minimum initial investment will be $1,000 for all share classes.
Rational Trend Aggregation Growth Fund
Rational Trend Aggregation Growth Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation while maintaining a secondary emphasis on capital preservation. The plan is to trade U.S. equities using a momentum-based strategy. The prospectus, for reasons unclear, has the following phrase in a larger, bolded font: “tactical models implemented by the Advisor are,” followed by the same list (trend, mean reversion, intermarket analysis) evident in their other fund’s prospectus. The fund will be managed by Matthew B. Tuttle, founder of the adviser. The initial expense ratio will be 1.67% for the no-load Institutional shares, and the minimum initial investment will be $1,000 for all share classes.
REX BKCM ETF
REX BKCM ETF is an actively-managed ETF which will pursue total return. The plan is to invest in the cryptocurrency world: firms that accept payments, support miners, develop opps, use blockchain and/or are “Cryptocurrency Service Providers.” The fund will be managed by Brian Kelly, Founder and CEO of BKCM LLC, and Denise M. Krisko. Ms. Krisko has the distinction of having managed the fund “since its inception in 2016.” Ummmm … no? The initial expense ratio is not yet public and there is, of course, no minimum initial investment.
RVX Emerging Markets Equity Fund
RVX Emerging Markets Equity Fund will pursue long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to use “quantitative screening followed by ‘bottom-up’ fundamental analysis with the goal of owning the highest quality, undervalued companies” whose fates are tied to the emerging markets. Geographically, those firms might be headquartered in developed, emerging or frontier markets. The fund will be managed by Cindy New and Robin Kollannur of RVX Asset Management. RVX is an institutional EM specialist with, as best I can tell, $133 million in AUM. The initial expense ratio will be 1.35% after waivers for both the Institutional and Investor class shares, and the minimum initial investment has not been announced.
Six Thirteen Core Equity Fund (TZDKX)
Six Thirteen Core Equity Fund will pursue long-term growth of capital. The plan is to invest in the stock of high quality and attractively valued companies consistent with the Jewish values of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and of promoting the development of Israel. The fund will be managed by Evan F. Shorten and Justin L. Ross of JVIF, LLC (the Jewish Values Investment Funds). The initial expense ratio will be 1.36% after waivers, and the minimum initial investment will be $3,600. There’s a rich embedded set of cultural signals here. Nina Kallen, a friend and remarkably sharp attorney in Boston, helps with a bit of decoding: “There are,” she reports, “613 commandments in the Torah. Tsedakah is a Jewish concept that combines the English concepts of charity and justice. The Jewish word Chai means life. All Hebrew words have a numeric value taken from their letters. The numeric value of Chai is 18. So multiples of 18 are considered lucky –36, 360,3600, etc. Monetary gifts at bat mitzvahs often are in those amounts.”
I love being around people who are sharper than me, and especially those who are differently sharp. One of the joys of working with MFO is being surrounded by a cadre of folks – Chip, Charles, Ed and our readers – who are just those sort of people.
