TMSRX - T.Rowe Price Multi-Strategy Total Return Fund
I recommend this fund to no one. High fees. Poor performance. A bunch of rookies proving that
five heads ain’t necessarily better than one. But I’ll cut them a little slack, as it’s their first annual report, and link it. The fund seeks total return primarily from income producing investments. However, it strives to be non-correlated with bonds and equities. Go figure.
They have 5 managers running 5 different investment strategies under one roof. (Think of a restaurant trying to serve everything from Italian Pizza to Hungarian Hash at the same time and you’ll quickly see the problem.) The managers claim the fund only lost 3% since inception. That surprised me. The $10 opening price dropped as low as about $9.25 at one point. I’m guessing they kicked out some pretty good income near year’s end that may have helped total return.
If the bull market resumes I’d say this fund hasn’t long to live. But if markets continue to struggle & backslide maybe this one will become competitive with some diversified income or conservative allocation funds. Price understands allocation and macro-economics very well. But running this expensive and unwieldy octopus is sorta like swmming with a lead ball and chain. I bought a small slice after it opened in the spring - but than lobbed a little off. Currently it’s about 4% of my holdings - strictly as a diversifier.
Final thought. This might just be the opening act. Possibly they’ll find a way to streamline the fund and cut costs going forward. I suspect T.Rowe will learn a great deal from the endeavor.
FWIW
https://prospectus-express.broadridge.com/m_summary.asp?doctype=ann&clientid=trowepll&fundid=77958R100
