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Abhay Deshpande CINTX and CENTS - any opinion?

edited January 2017 in Fund Discussions
Centerstone funds are managed by Abhay Deshpande. Prior to establishing Centerstone, Mr. Deshpande was a Portfolio Manager at First Eagle Investment Management, advisor to the Global and Overseas strategies that comprised the vast majority of the firm’s billions in assets under management. First Eagle funds are famous for their stability, safety and growth.

The new funds managed by Abhay Deshpande are very young, accessible at Fidelity, Scottrade and TD Ameritrade. These funds are still small, which could suggest that now is the time to invest there. But I do not hear any discussion of these funds on the web. Do you have any opinion about these funds? Any comments? Do these funds deserve to be considered "Most intriguing new funds?"

Comments

  • Intriguing no doubt but the scarcity of info is definitely a drawback. Compounding that are the transaction fees for purchase, loads, 12b-1 fees for anything less than the $100K institutional share class and no insight as to the expense ratio. I would imagine that if these funds kick butt they will begin to get more attention and publicity. However, if one is a gamer, and followed this managers accomplishments at First Eagle then getting in early might be just the ticket.
  • "Prior to establishing Centerstone, Mr. Deshpande was a Portfolio Manager at First Eagle Investment Management, advisor to the Global and Overseas strategies that comprised the vast majority of the firm’s billions in assets under management. First Eagle funds are famous for their stability, safety and growth."

    Why does this sound a lot like an advertisement puff piece to me?
  • It sounds like an advertisement, because the first two sentences were copied from the web, but the end of it was mine: First Eagle funds are famous for their stability, safety and growth. I always wanted to have a chance to invest with them, but their funds either require 5% load, or 1 M for the institutional shares. Right now First Eagle Overseas has 15B AUM, and First Eagle Global has 51B AUM. Some of their leaders such as Jean-Marie Eveillard and Abhay Deshpande left. Meanwhile AUM of Centerstone funds is 1000 time smaller.
  • Old_Joe said:

    "Prior to establishing Centerstone, Mr. Deshpande was a Portfolio Manager at First Eagle Investment Management, advisor to the Global and Overseas strategies that comprised the vast majority of the firm’s billions in assets under management. First Eagle funds are famous for their stability, safety and growth."

    Why does this sound a lot like an advertisement puff piece to me?

    Yeah, that last sentence is a dead giveaway. I never realized manager bios could be used for marketing. Then again, not sure if M* does it themselves any more. Perhaps they just ask the fund company? No that does not make sense either.

    I think we may have turned the corner here...
  • I see absolutely no reason to be an early buyer of this fund. Better to watch the fund to see how it behaves, and wait for a sufficient track record. Centerstone is likely looking for AUM like First Eagle, so this fund will not close to new investors anytime soon. And I am somewhat concerned that Mr. Deshpande was supported by a deeper and more talented research team at First Eagle than he has now.

    If you want exposure in the foreign LCB space, just buy FMIJX and call it a day.

    Kevin
  • Perhaps you did not read what I said: I took from Morningstar the sentence "Prior to establishing Centerstone, Mr. Deshpande was a Portfolio Manager at First Eagle Investment Management, advisor to the Global and Overseas strategies that comprised the vast majority of the firm’s billions in assets under management." I agree with you that Morningstar did not write it either, but since this info is correct, what is wrong in using it?

    The rest of the text is absolutely mine, including the sentence "First Eagle funds are famous for their stability, safety and growth." If you look at the Morningstar figure showing the performance of First Eagle Global since inception, you will understand what I mean. I posted this info because I consider investing in the Centerstone International at Fidelity. Thus I was looking for any additional information that could help me with my decision, or maybe to suggest David Snowball to consider discussing these new funds.
  • @finder- I apologize for my instinctive cynicism. You may have a successful career waiting in advertising, though.
  • edited January 2017
    Dear Old_Joe,

    Thanks for you reply. This is the epoch when everyone becomes cynical, some call it "post-truth era". As for these funds, I recall now that there was a discussion of these new funds in June Commentary, in "Launch Alert: Centerstone Investors Fund (CETAX/CENTX)". Here is a part of these comments, much better said than in Morningstar:

    "The argument for being excited about Centerstone Investors is pretty straightforward: it’s managed by Abhay Deshpande who worked on the singularly-splendid First Eagle Global (SGENX) fund for 14 years, the last six of them as co-manager.... Deshpande was seen as the driver of SGENX’s success in the years after Mr. Eveillard’s departure, which is reflected in the Morningstar downgrade when he left. So there’s talent on Centerstone’s side."

    Then in July Commentary I read:

    "The great virtue of the Morningstar conference, and one of the greatest gifts that working with the Observer affords, is the ability to talk with (heck, mostly listen to) remarkable people. That roster most recently included Rupal Bhansali, Abhay Deshpande, Andrew Foster, Teresa Kong and David Marcus. These folks aren’t just bright, they’re scary bright. More importantly, they’re the right kind of bright."

    I guess this really helps me to decide:)
  • Centerstone Investor Class A (CETAX) and Centerstone International Class A (CSIAX) are available no-load and NTF at Schwab for $100 and $1 additional in basic and IRA accounts. David ran a launch alert in June 2016. The fund http://centerstoneinv.com has a lengthy, detailed conference call transcript dated December 6 under News and Events that is worth your attention plus past articles / interviews that communicate very clearly the strategy of the funds and views of the manager. I own CSIAX and recommend it for consideration provided it has an appropriate place in one's portfolio.

    @kevindow
    Centerstone is likely looking for AUM like First Eagle, so this fund will not close to new investors anytime soon.
    On the contrary, the manager has been quite clear about his intentions regarding AUM. He's stated that 10B would be an ideal size for his funds and mentions the importance of fund flows as well in keeping returns competitive. He points out that Ben Graham warned years ago about the danger of combining huge fund size with added fees making it difficult to produce superior returns. While it's probably true that the fund(s) will not close anytime soon, AUM will definitely be controlled.
  • @openice,

    OK, let me be clear. The current AUM is a measly $53M for a fund which began collecting assets 8 months ago in May 2016. Like I said, this fund will not close to new investors anytime soon.

    Also, Mr. Deshpande only has a paltry $100K or less invested of his own money in this fund, according to the latest SAI. Why should I have confidence in this fund if the manager doesn't ??

    And if the AUM get near $10B, which may take 5 or more years at this pace, I predict that greed will overcome principle -- like it usually does -- and the fund will stay open to ALL investors.

    Again, in this space, FMIJX would be my choice and not Mr. Deshpande's fund.

    Kevin
  • Comments by Morningstar on FMIJX:

    "This approach has achieved a superb record with strong downside protection--a hallmark of FMI funds. Since inception, the fund has lost only 43% less than its index in down months. Current tailwinds won't last forever, but this patient approach should deliver for long-term investors."

    I believe that by current tailwinds they mean rise of dollar, which they compensate by hedging. This fund has 6.2B AUM, which is a lot. I invest in FMIJX, but perhaps it is good that CSIAX will not become so large and will stay nimble for much longer time. I guess I will invest in both.
  • "I believe that by current tailwinds they mean rise of dollar, which they compensate by hedging."

    That would be a good guess since M* wrote of "currency tailwinds" three paragraphs up. But in the same sentence M* added that the fund also benefited from its dearth of EM relative to its peers. Another tailwind.
  • @kevindow Your point was that the fund will not close anytime soon because the manager's intention is "looking for assets like First Eagle," which the manager has stated is false.

    The manager has between 50-100K in the domestic fund; he has none in the international fund. I like to see managers have some meaningful stake in their products, but at the same time I don't conclude that they "don't have confidence" in their own ability.

    You are very correct in stating that it may take "5 or more years" for the fund to reach 10B at its present pace!

    OTOH, I'm unconvinced that if the fund reaches that amount that "greed will overcome principle like it usually does," especially when the manager has stated that he will limit assets. What I have seen in my past investment experience is that managers who have said that they will close the cash windows do follow through, and so I'm making a judgment in the case of Mr. Deshpande that he will do the same. Based on what he has said and written publicly indicates that his goal is to produce superior returns, not accumulate assets, and so I will take him as a man of principle rather than as someone following his own selfish interests.

    I have a very favorable opinion of FMIJX but do not own it.

    Best.

  • From the talk by Deshpande a month ago:

    "Finally, and most importantly the employees of Centerstone have invested eight figures
    in total into the Funds. There can be, in my mind, no other greater alignment of interest
    than investing alongside one’s client base."

    Eight figures means more than $10M. The total AUM of the two funds is approximately $60M. In other words, unless I am mistaken, he says that more than 15% of the AUM of the two funds is due to the investment of the employees of Centerstone.
  • edited January 2017
    At Fidelity, neither is load-waived for the A shares; for $100k, you can buy the I shares for a transaction fee and no load. So, under the current offering setup, these funds don't appear to be attractive for retail investors, at Fidelity at least.
  • Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.

    Kevin
  • IF you look at the research staff on website, it is from decent alumni. I'm not rushing to buy because it is not NTF anywhere that I can buy right now until Scottrade becomes Ameritrade.
  • @kevindow
    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.
    Very helpful to know! Thanks for pointing it out. I certainly missed it. Best
  • edited January 2017
    kevindow said:

    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.

    Kevin

    aah...i trusted M* fund page which still does not list Scottrade. Good to know, then it will be also available in TD Ameritrade.

    Just checked at Scottrade, neither CETAX or CENTX is available NTF.
  • kevindow said:

    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF as Kevin described.

    Kevin

    aah...i trusted M* fund page which still does not list Scottrade.
    While I find M*'s "purchase" pages (lists of brokerage availability) some of the least reliable (usually errors of omission), in this case M* was spot on.

    The CENTX purchase page and the CINTX purchase page each shows the fund available at "Scottrade TF" as Kevin described.

    Regarding CETAX, the M* purchase page shows that you can already get it at TDAmeritrade NTF. TDAmeritrade confirms this; there the standard $5K min is required.
  • I see no compelling reason to own these funds.
  • Didn't know Ameritrade had $5K min req. Even E*Trade I think dropped minimum to $100 like Scottrade and Schwab. Methinks people moving out of Scottrade if Ameritrade does not grandfather this.
  • "Didn't know Ameritrade had $5K min req. Even E*Trade I think dropped minimum to $100"

    Neither CENTX nor CETAX appears to be available for purchase at E*Trade.
    Both their pages here and here report:
       imageThis fund is not available for purchase through E*TRADE Securities
  • @msf: Cute! image I'm gonna steal that one.
  • Two quick additions.

    I got an intriguing sense of calm from Mr. Deshpande. Very sharp, very attentive but ... hmmm, centered? Appropriately self-confident? Patient? You don't get the sense of a guy who feels pressured to make a splash, much less a name for himself.

    I get a sense that Mr. Deshpande will have a substantial investment in the fund and in the firm; often founders underwrite these start-ups to the tunes of hundreds of thousands to millions. I also had a sense that some of his net worth might have been locked-up at First Eagle, but my recollection could be faulty. Firms often have exit clauses that don't let the principals simply walk away with tens of millions in cash; they get their money in installments.

    For whatever nuance that might add,

    David
  • edited January 2017
    msf said:

    Neither CENTX nor CETAX appears to be available for purchase at E*Trade.

    I found CETAX available load waived with $100 minimum both taxable and IRA accounts at E*TRADE.
  • @David
    I get a sense that Mr. Deshpande will have a substantial investment in the fund and in the firm; often founders underwrite these start-ups to the tunes of hundreds of thousands to millions. I also had a sense that some of his net worth might have been locked-up at First Eagle, but my recollection could be faulty. Firms often have exit clauses that don't let the principals simply walk away with tens of millions in cash; they get their money in installments.

    For whatever nuance that might add,
    David, here's what I've learned: The SAI document, which shows Mr. Deshpande's personal stake, was created on the fund's inception date just after the "seed" money was placed in the funds. He now has over 8 figures of his own personal money in the funds. Also, the highest breakpoint you will find on Morningstar or when the SAI gets updated in May is over $1 million, but in fact, he has 8 figures in the funds.

    @LLJB Thx for the update.
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