Reply to
@MaxBialystock: The difference with Marketfield is that the fund isn't quite as strict with the "short" part of long/short and attempts to be more flexible, dialing up/down long and short exposure as it sees fit. The fund also makes sizable macro calls. It's a pretty unique fund in the long/short space.
Definitely do your own research, but if you want to consider including alternative strategies, it is worth a look.
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From a Marketwatch article on the fund:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/flexibility-is-key-for-marketfield-fund-2011-10-25"Michael Aronstein's Marketfield fund has one big advantage many other mutual funds don't: flexibility.
Aronstein's $764-million fund has a broad mandate, allowing it to go long and short stocks, invest across different sectors and countries, even buy and sell futures and commodities.
"It's basically a hedge fund in a mutual-fund package," Aronstein said. "We have the flexibility to go pretty much to any asset category, either long or short."
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The strategy portion of the fund's prospectus:
"To achieve the Fund's investment objective, the Adviser will allocate the Fund's
assets among investments in equity securities,fixed-income securities and other
investment companies, including exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), in proportions
consistent with the Adviser's evaluation of their expected risks and returns.
In making these allocations, the Adviser considers various factors, including
macroeconomic conditions, corporate earnings at a macroeconomic level, anticipated
inflation and interest rates, consumer risk and its perception of the outlook of
the
capital markets as a whole. A macroeconomic strategy focuses on broad trends
and is generally distinguished from a strategy that focuses on the prospects of
particular companies or issuers. The Adviser may allocate the Fund's investments
between equity and fixed-income securities at its discretion, without limitation.
The Fund's investments in fixed-income securities normally consist of investment
grade corporate bonds and debentures, mortgage-backed and asset-backed
securities, United States Treasury obligations, municipal securities,
obligations issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies or instrumentalities
and convertible securities. The Fund may also invest in zero-coupon bonds,
without limitation. In addition, the Fund may invest up to 30% of its net assets
in high-yield fixed-income securities commonly referred to as "junk bonds." The
fixed-income securities in which the Fund invests may have maturities of any
length and may have variable and floating interest rates.
The Fund's equity securities investments may include common and preferred stocks
of U.S. companies of any size. In addition, the Fund may invest up to 50% of its
net assets in equity or fixed-income options, futures contracts and convertible
securities and may invest up to 30% of its net assets in swap agreements.
Additionally, with respect to 50% of the Fund's net assets, the Fund may engage
in short sales of index-related and other equity securities to reduce its equity
exposure or to profit from an anticipated decline in the price of the securities
sold short.
The Fund may invest up to 50% of its net assets in equity securities of foreign
companies of any size, including up to 35% of its net assets in securities
issued by corporations or governments located in developing or emerging
markets. The Fund's investments in foreign securities may include, but are not
limited to, American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs"), European Depositary Receipts
("EDRs") and Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs"), including up to 35% of its net
assets in securities issued by corporations or governments located in developing
or emerging markets.
The Fund may borrow money from banks or other financial institutions to purchase
securities, which is commonly known as "leveraging," in an amount not to exceed
one-third of its total assets, as permitted by the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), and may also engage in securities lending to
earn income.
Security selection for the Fund is driven by the Adviser's top-down analysis of
economic issues, investor sentiment and investment flows. Once the Adviser has
identified a theme that either benefits or disadvantages a specific sector or
country, it seeks to implement an investment strategy that is appropriate for
the Fund. In some cases, the Adviser utilizes a sector- or country-specific ETF
that offers exposure to a broad range of securities. In other situations, the
Adviser may select a single issue that is perceived to be particularly germane
to a specific concern or a small group of issues with characteristics that match
the goal of creating portfolio exposure to a macroeconomic theme."
