Armour Tactical Flex Fund
Armour Tactical Flex Fund will seek long-term gains by actively trading equity and income ETFs and ETNs. In a marvel of clarity, the managers reveal that they’ll be “utilizing quantitative metrics that are not limited to a focused investment philosophy, security type, asset class, or industry sector.” They’ll track and position the portfolio in response to “factors such as, corporate earnings, valuation metrics, debt, corporate news, leadership changes, technical indicators and micro or macro-economic influences . . . political, behavioral, weather changes, terrorism, fear and greed.” Their arsenal will include double inverse ETFs to target markets they believe will fall. The fund will be managed by Brett Rosenberger, CEO of ArmourWealth. The investment minimum is a blessedly high $50,000. 1.75% expense ratio after waivers.
Buffalo Dividend Focus Fund
Buffalo Dividend Focus Fund seeks “current income, with long-term growth of capital as a secondary objective.” They’ll invest in dividend-paying equity securities, including domestic common stocks, preferred stocks, rights, warrants and convertible securities. They’ll look, in particular, at firms with a history of raising their dividends. Direct foreign exposure via ADRs is limited to 20% of the portfolio. The fund will be managed by John Kornitzer and Scott Moore. Mr. Kornitzer also manages Buffalo Flexible Income (BUFBX) where he’s assembled a really first-rate record. The minimum initial investment will be $2500, reduced to $250 for various tax-advantaged accounts and $100 for accounts set up with an AIP. There will be a 0.97% expense ratio and a 2% redemption fee on shares held fewer than 60 days.
GL Macro Performance
GL Macro Performance will seek “seeks total return with less volatility than the broad equity or fixed income markets.” It will try to be your basic “global macro hedge fund sold as a mutual fund.” They can invest, long or short, in a bunch of asset classes based on macro-level developments. The managers will be Michael V. Tassone and Dan Thibeault, both of GL Capital Partners. Mr. Tassone does not seem to have a track record for investing other people’s money, but he does run a firm helping grad students manage their loans. Before attending grad school in the 80s, Mr. Tassone spent time at Goldman Sachs and the GE Private Equity group. $1000 investment minimum. The expense ratio is capped at 1.75%.
Legg Mason ClearBridge Select Fund
Legg Mason ClearBridge Select Fund is looking for long-term growth of capital by investing, mostly, in “a smaller number of” stocks. (“Smaller than what?” was not explained.) It promises bottom-up stock picking based on fundamental research. They note, in passing, that they can short stocks. The Board reserves the right to change both the funds objectives and strategies without shareholder approval. The manager will be Aram Green, who also manages ClearBridge’s small- and midcap-growth strategies. There will be six share classes, including five nominally no-load ones. The two retail classes (A and C) will have $1000 minimums, the retirement classes will have no minimum. Expenses are not yet set.
Market Vectors Emerging Markets Aggregate Bond ETF
Market Vectors Emerging Markets Aggregate Bond ETF will track an as-yet unspecified index and will charge an as-yet unspecified amount for its services. Michael F. Mazier and Francis G. Rodilosso of Van Eck will manage the fund.
Market Vectors Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Bond ETF
Market Vectors Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Bond ETF will track an another as-yet unspecified index and will charge an as-yet unspecified amount for its services. The difference, so far, is that this fund will invest in “U.S. dollar denominated debt securities issued by emerging markets issuers.” Michael F. Mazier and Francis G. Rodilosso of Van Eck will manage the fund.
RiverNorth/Oaktree High Income Fund
RiverNorth/Oaktree High Income Fund will pursue overall total return consisting of long-term capital appreciation and income. The managers will allocate the portfolio between three distinct strategies: Tactical Closed-End Fund, High Yield and Senior Loan. Patrick Galley and Stephen O’Neill of RiverNorth will allocate resources between strategies and will implement the Tactical Closed-End Fund strategy, apparently an income-sensitive variant of the strategy used in RiverNorth Core Opportunity (RNCOX, a five-star fund) and elsewhere. Desmund Shirazi and Sheldon Stone of Oaktree Capital Management will handle the Senior Loan and High-Yield Strategies, respectively. The Loan strategy will target higher-quality non-investment grade loans. Mr. Stone helped found Oaktree, established the high-yield group at TCW and managed a $1 billion fixed-income portfolio for Prudential. There will be a $1000 minimum on the investor class shares. The expense ratio has not yet been set.
SSgA Minimum Volatility ETFs
SSgA Minimum Volatility ETFs will both be actively-managed ETFs which attempt provide “competitive long-term returns while maintaining low long-term volatility” relative to the U.S. and global equity markets, respectively. There’s precious little detail on how they’ll accomplish this feat, except that it’ll involve computers and that their particular target is “a low level of absolute risk (as defined by standard deviation of returns).” They’ll both be managed by Mike Feehily and John Tucker of SSgA. Expenses not yet announced.
T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund
T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund will pursue “a high level of income consistent with minimal fluctuations in principal value and liquidity.” The plan is to invest in a “diversified portfolio of shorter-term investment-grade corporate and government securities, including mortgage-backed securities, money market securities and bank obligations.” The average maturity will be around 1.5 years. The fund will be managed by Joseph K. Lynagh, who joined Price in 1990 and manages or co-manages a slew of other very conservative bond funds (Prime Reserve, Reserve Investment, Tax-Exempt Money, California Tax-Free Income, State Tax-Free Income, Tax-Free Short-Intermediate Funds). The investment minimum will be $2500 for regular accounts and $1000 for various tax-advantaged ones. The expense ratio will be 0.80%, which is close to what Wells Fargo charges on an ultra-short fund with $1.2 billion in assets.
T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund
T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund will pursue “a high level of income consistent with minimal fluctuations in principal value and liquidity.” The plan is to invest in a “a diversified portfolio of shorter-term investment-grade municipal securities.” The average maturity will be around 1.5 years. The fund will be managed by Joseph K. Lynagh, who joined Price in 1990 and manages or co-manages a slew of other very conservative bond funds (Prime Reserve, Reserve Investment, Tax-Exempt Money, California Tax-Free Income, State Tax-Free Income, Tax-Free Short-Intermediate Funds). The investment minimum will be $2500 for regular accounts and $1000 for various tax-advantaged ones. The expense ratio will be 0.80%.
