AMG Multi-Asset Income Fund

AMG Multi-Asset Income Fund will seek a high level of current income. They intend to invest in many sorts of income-producing securities, using five sub-advisers with five different approaches, in order to generate “incrementally more yield” than a portfolio of government securities. That’s nice, except that their risk target is “lower than the S&P 500 Index over the long term.” On face, that’s not a compelling balance. The management teams haven’t been named. The initial expense ratio has not been set, nor has the expense cap that apparently will be in place. The minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged products.

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities Fund

AMG SouthernSun Global Opportunities Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to invest globally in 15-40 small to mid-cap companies. As with their US small cap fund, they’re looking for firms with financial flexibility, good management and niche dominance. The domestic small cap fund has suffered from “the girl with the curl” problem. The fund will be managed by Michael Cook, who also manages the other two SouthernSun funds. The initial expense ratio will be 1.70% and the minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged products.

Concorde Wealth Management Trust

Concorde Wealth Management Trust will seek total return and preservation of capital. The plan is to invest in all kinds of stuff – stocks, bonds, private placements – that is attractively valued, though the prospectus doesn’t mention how the managers will allocate between asset classes nor whether there are any limits on their discretion. For reasons unclear, they insist on shouting the world FUND over and over in the prospectus. The fund will be managed by Dr. Gary B. Wood, John Stetter, and Gregory B. Wood. The initial expense ratio will be 1.37% and the minimum initial investment is $500.

DoubleLine Ultra Short Bond Fund

DoubleLine Ultra Short Bond Fund will seek current income consistent with limited price volatility. They’ll target securities with a duration under one year and an average credit quality of AA- or higher. The fund will be managed by Bonnie Baha, who famously referred to her boss as “a freakin’ jerk” and still manages four funds for him, and Jeffrey Lee. The initial expense ratio has not been set, nor has the expense cap that apparently will be in place. The minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $500 for various tax-advantaged products.

Toreador Select Fund

Toreador Select Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to deploy “a proprietary stock selection model” (aren’t they all proprietary?) to select 35-60 large cap stocks. The fund will be managed by Paul Blinn and Rafael Resendes of Toreador Research & Trading. The team also managed Toreador Core, a global all-cap fund with a modestly regrettable record since: total returns trail its peers while volatility is modestly higher. The initial expense ratio will be 1.21% and the minimum initial investment is $1,000.

Boyd Watterson Short Duration Enhanced Income Fund

Boyd Watterson Short Duration Enhanced Income Fund will seek income, capital preservation and total return, in that order. The plan is to invest tactically in a wide variety of security types including junk bonds, bank loans, convertibles, preferred shares, CDOs and so on. They’ve got a bunch of proprietary strategies for sector, industry and tactical allocations. The fund will be managed by a team from Boyd Watterson Asset Management. The opening expense ratio has not been disclosed and the minimum initial investment is $5,000, reduced to $2,500 for various tax-advantaged accounts.

Moerus Worldwide Value Fund

Moerus Worldwide Value Fund will seek capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in a global portfolio of 25-40 undervalued stocks. Candidate companies would have solid balance sheets, high quality business models and shareholder-friendly management teams. In addition, they should have the capacity to thrive in “difficult periods” and “market downturns.” The fund will be managed by Amit Wadhwaney, formerly lead manager of Third Avenue International Value. He and two other former Third Avenue employees launched Moerus Capital in December 2015. And no, I have no idea of what a “moerus” is. The opening expense ratio is 1.65% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

Northern Active M U.S. Equity Fund

Northern Active M U.S. Equity Fund  will seek long-term capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio of primarily U.S. equity securities. Any income generation is purely incidental. It will be a multi-manager fund, so I’m guessing that explains the mysterious “M” in the name. The fund will be managed by Delaware Investments, Granite Investment Partners, The London Company of Virginia, and Polen Capital Management. The opening expense ratio is 0.67% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $500 for various tax-advantaged accounts and $250 for funds set up with an AIP.

Sit ESG Growth Fund

Sit ESG Growth Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in fundamentally attractive businesses which also have “strong environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices at the time of purchase.” The fund will be managed by Roger Sit and a team from SIT Associates. The opening expense ratio is 1.50% and the minimum initial investment is $5,000.

SPDR® SSGA U.S. Sector Rotation ETF

SPDR SSGA U.S. Sector Rotation ETF will seek a provide capital appreciation. The plan is to invest, using a tactical sector allocation strategy, in sector ETFs. They determine the attractiveness of sectors monthly, so you might reasonably expect a high-turnover strategy. The fund will be managed by John Gulino, Lorne Johnson and Michael Narkiewicz of the Investment Solutions Group. The opening expense ratio has not been disclosed and, being an ETF, there’s no regular investment minimum.  

Vest Armor S&P 500® Fund

Vest Armor S&P 500® Fund will track, before expenses, the performance of the CBOE S&P 500 Buffer Protect Index. These folks are actually launching about 14 related funds simultaneously. The underlying idea is that they can use options to tightly control the range of a fund’s gains or losses.  In a rising market, they’ll profit up to a preset cap. In a modestly declining market, they’ll keep returns at zero. In a sharply declining market, they’ll lose 10% less – that is, 1000 basis points less – that the S&P 500. Twelve of the funds are denominated by month: the January fund sets its 12-month return parameters at one level, the February fund at another, the March fund at a third and so on. The fund will be managed by Karan Sood and Johnathan Hale of Vest Financial. The opening expense ratio is 1.50% and the minimum initial investment is $1,000.