By David Snowball

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.

By David Snowball

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.

By David Snowball

361 Domestic Long/Short Equity Fund

361 Domestic Long/Short Equity Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation while preserving capital in down markets. The plan is sort of encapsulated in the fund’s name. The fund will be managed by Harindra de Silva, Dennis Bein, and Ryan Brown, all of Analytic Investors. Dr. de Silva is, just fyi, famous, renowned, well-respected and successful. The initial expense ratio will be 1.79% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

American Beacon Garcia Hamilton Quality Bond Fund

American Beacon Garcia Hamilton Quality Bond Fund will seek high current income consistent with preservation of capital. The plan is to buy 0-7 year investment grade bonds. That’s nice, though I don’t particularly see whether the fund’s competitive advantage might come from. In any case, the fund will be managed by Gilbert Andrew Garcia and Nancy Rodriguez of Garcia, Hamilton & Associates. The initial expense ratio will be 0.84% and the minimum initial investment is $2500.

American Beacon GLG Total Return Fund

American Beacon GLG Total Return Fund will seek high current income and capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in … uh, stuff located in or linked to the emerging markets. Investment decisions are driven by a top-down analysis of the state of the markets and “stuff” might include fixed income securities, equities, ETFs, derivatives, options (“non-deliverable forwards”), and STRIPs. The fund will be managed by Guillermo Ossés, head of emerging market debt strategies for GLC, LLC. The initial expense ratio will be 1.56% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

Aasgard Dividend Growth Small & Mid-Cap Fund

Aasgard Dividend Growth Small & Mid-Cap Fund will seek a combination of dividend income and capital appreciation, with a secondary focus on lower than market volatility. The plan is to buy dividend-paying common stocks of small- and medium-sized companies. The portfolio will be sector-neutral with strict limits on position size and industry exposure, though it’s not clear how that affects the “sector-neutral” mandate. The fund will be managed by James Walsh of Coldstream Capital Management. The initial expense ratio will be 1.25% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500. The fund will launch in March.

Chautauqua Global Growth Fund

Chautauqua Global Growth Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to create a portfolio of 35-45 mid- and large-cap growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Brian Beitner. Mr. Beitner is employed by Chautaqua Capital Management, a division of R.W. Baird. The initial expense ratio has not been disclosed and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged accounts. The fund will launch in April.

Chautauqua International Growth Fund

Chautauqua International Growth Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to create a portfolio of 25-35 mid- and large-cap growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Brian Beitner. Mr. Beitner is employed by Chautaqua Capital Management, a division of R.W. Baird. The initial expense ratio has not been disclosed and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged accounts. The fund will launch in April.

CMG Tactical All Asset Strategy Fund

CMG Tactical All Asset Strategy Fund will seek capital appreciation. The plan is to use a momentum-based strategy to invest in ETFs targeting alternative asset classes, stocks, bonds and commodities. The fund will be managed by Steven Blumenthal, PJ Grzywacz and Michael Hee, all of CMG Capital Management. The initial expense ratio for the institutional share class will be 1.40% and the minimum initial investment is $15,000.

Fasanara Capital Absolute Return Multi-Asset Fund

Fasanara Capital Absolute Return Multi-Asset Fund will seek positive absolute returns “over a reasonable period of time.” The plan is to stitch together a three-sleeved garment with a Value Sleeve, a Hedging and Cheap Optionality Sleeve and a Tactical Sleeve. Fans of the Hedging and Cheap Optionality Sleeve shouldn’t get too excited, given the caveat that “the specific strategies the Fund pursues and the manner in which the Fund pursues such strategies may change from time to time.” The fund will be managed by Fasanara’s Francesco Filia. The initial expense ratio will be 1.25% and the minimum initial investment is $1,000.

Matthews Asia Credit Opportunities Fund

Matthews Asia Credit Opportunities Fund will seek total return over the long term. The plan is to invest in Asian bonds, convertibles and derivatives. The language in the prospectus implies that this may be the high-yield/distressed-debt version of their Strategic Income fund. The fund will be managed by Teresa Kong and Satya Patel, who also manage Matthews Asia Strategic Income (MAINX). The initial expense ratio will be 1.10% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $500 for various tax-advantaged accounts.

RiverPark Commercial Real Estate Fund

RiverPark Commercial Real Estate Fund will seek to generate current income and capital appreciation consistent with the preservation of capital by investing in debt instruments that are secured, directly or indirectly, by income-producing commercial real estate assets. The plan is to capture their holdings’ monthly income distributions and to trade rarely but opportunistically. As with other RiverPark funds, this is a converted hedge fund. The hedge fund, GSREA CMBS Credit Opportunities, LLC, averaged 7.7% a year from 2010-2014, the last year for which we have data. Even in its worst quarter, the fund still made money. The fund will be managed by Ed Shugrue, who managed the hedge fund and has 25 years of experience as a commercial real estate investor. The initial expense ratio will be 1.25% and the minimum initial investment is $1,000.

Robinson Income Opportunities Fund

Robinson Income Opportunities Fund will seek total return with an emphasis on providing current income. The plan is to play the RiverNorth game: invest in income-producing closed-end funds when you can identify funds selling at unsustainable discounts to the their NAV. If you don’t find attractively-priced CEFs, they’ll default to low-cost ETFs instead. The fund will be managed by James Robinson. The initial expense ratio has not been released but the minimum initial investment is $2,500. There’s a front load, but it’s easy to find load-waived access.

Summit Global Investments Small Cap Low Volatility Fund

Summit Global Investments Small Cap Low Volatility Fund will try to outperform the Russell 2000 with less volatility. The plan is to find solid, growing companies with low volatility stock, then buy them. The fund will be managed by a team led by Summit’s CIO, David Harden. The initial expense ratio will be 1.48% and the minimum initial investment is $2500.

T. Rowe Price Global Consumer Fund

T. Rowe Price Global Consumer Fund will seek long-term growth of capital through investments in the stocks of companies in the consumer sector. That’s pretty much it, except for the note that “global” in the name means “normally 40% or more outside the U.S.” The fund will be managed by Jason Nogueira. The initial expense ratio will be 1.05% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged accounts.

Touchstone International Growth Fund

Touchstone International Growth Fund will seek long-term capital growth. The plan is not particularly distinguished: top-down, bottom-up, mostly developed markets, mostly growth stocks. The fund will be managed by Nitin N. Kumbhani of Apex Capital Management. The initial expense ratio will be 1.07% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, reduced to $1,000 for various tax-advantaged accounts and $100 for accounts established with an automatic investment plan.

Tree Ring Stock Fund

Tree Ring Stock Fund (no, I don’t make this stuff up) will seek capital appreciation. The plan is to buy 30 or so undervalued mid- to large-cap stocks. The fund will be managed by Yung Jer (“JJ”) Lin of Tree Ring Capital. Tree Ring seems to be a one-man operation with $5 million in AUM and no website, which means I can’t help explain the “tree ring” thing to you. The initial expense ratio will be 1.5% and the minimum initial investment is $5000.

Value Line Defensive Strategies Fund

Value Line Defensive Strategies Fund will seek capital preservation and positive returns with low volatility regardless of the market’s directions. It will be a fund of alternatives funds and ETFs. The fund will be managed by “[_____], the Chief Investment Officer and portfolio manager of the Adviser.” As far as I can tell, EULAV (why would you choose to name yourself for the opposite or reverse of “value”?) doesn’t currently have a CIO, hence the [ ]. The initial expense ratio will be and the minimum initial investment is $1,000.

Wilshire Income Fund

Wilshire Income Fund will seek to maximize current income. The plan is to invest in a “multi-sector portfolio of income producing securities of varying maturities.” The fund will be managed by a team led by B. Scott Minerd, Global Chief Investment Officer of Guggenheim. Eventually they’ll add a second sub-advisor. The initial expense ratio has not been disclosed and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

By David Snowball

American Century Global Small Cap Fund

American Century Global Small Cap Fund will seek capital growth. The plan is “to use a variety of analytical research tools and techniques to identify the stocks of companies that meet their investment criteria.” Not a word about what those criteria might be, though they espouse the same bottom-up, follow the revenue language as the other two AC funds listed below. The fund will be managed by Trevor Gurwich and Federico Laffan; they also manage American Century International Opportunities (AIOIX) together. The initial expense ratio will be 1.51% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

American Century Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

American Century Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund will seek capital growth. The plan is to invest in small EM companies based on the conviction that “over the long term, stock price movements follow growth in earnings, revenues and/or cash flow.” The fund will be managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been managing American Century Emerging Markets (TWMIX) since 2006. The initial expense ratio will be 1.61% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

American Century Focused International Growth Fund

American Century Focused International Growth Fund will seek capital growth. The plan is to construct a bottom-up portfolio of 35-50 firms whose revenues are growing at an accelerating pace. The fund will be managed by Rajesh Gandhi and James Gendelman. Mr. Gendelman is, dare I say, a refugee from The House of Marsico. The initial expense ratio will be 1.24% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

Canterbury Portfolio Thermostat Fund

Canterbury Portfolio Thermostat Fund will seek long-term risk-adjusted growth. The plan is to use ETFs to invest in all the right places given current market conditions. The strategy is executed through ETFs and is unrelated to the much simpler, highly successful Columbia Thermostat fund discipline. The fund will be managed by Thomas Hardin and Kimberly J. Custer. The initial expense ratio will be 2.18% and the minimum initial investment is $5,000 for Institutional shares and $2,500 for Investor ones.

DoubleLine Infrastructure Income Fund

DoubleLine Infrastructure Income Fund will seek current income and total return. The plan is to invest in fixed- and floating-rate instruments which are being used to finance or refinance infrastructure projects globally. In general, the portfolio will be dollar-denominated. The fund will be managed by a team of DoubleLine folks, none of whom is named Jeffrey. The initial expense ratio has not yet been set and the minimum initial investment is $2,000, reduced to $500 for IRAs.

Manning & Napier Managed Futures

Manning & Napier Managed Futures  will seek positive absolute returns. “Managed futures” is a brilliant strategy with a horrendous track record: divide the world up into a series of asset classes, then use futures to invest long in rising classes, short falling ones and use the bulk of your assets to buy short-term bonds to add a bit of income. The strategy has lost money steadily over the past five years as the market has refused to cooperate by providing predictable trends to exploit. Over much longer periods, managed futures indexes have provided near-equity returns with reduced volatility. The fund will be managed by a team from M&N. The initial expense ratio will be 1.40% and the minimum initial investment is $2,000.

Pax World Mid Cap Fund

Pax World Mid Cap Fund will seek long-term growth of capital. The plan is to follow “a sustainable investing approach, combining rigorous financial analysis with equally rigorous environmental, social and governance analysis in order to identify investments.” The fund will be managed by Nathan Moser who also manages Pax World Small Cap (PXSAX). That fund has been a pretty solid performer pretty consistently. The initial expense ratio will be 1.24% and the minimum initial investment is $1000.

Seafarer Overseas Value Fund

Seafarer Overseas Value Fund will seek long-term capital appreciation. The plan is to invest in an all-cap EM stock portfolio. Beyond the bland announcement that they’ll use a “value” approach (“investing in companies that currently have low or depressed valuations, but which also have the prospect of achieving improved valuations in the future”), there’s little guidance as to what the fund’s will be doing. The fund will be managed by Paul Espinosa. Mr. Espinosa had 15 years as an EM equity analyst with Legg Mason, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan before joining Seafarer in May, 2014. The initial expense ratio has not yet been set, though Seafarer is evangelical about providing their services at the lowest practicable cost to investors, and the minimum initial investment is $2,500.

T. Rowe Price QM Global Equity Fund

T. Rowe Price QM Global Equity Fund will seek long-term growth of capital through a broadly diversified portfolio of global stocks. The plan is to use quantitative models (the “QM”) to select mid- to large-cap stocks based on “valuation, profitability, stability, management capital allocation actions, and indicators of near term appreciation potential.” The fund will be managed by Sudhir Nanda, head of TRP’s Quantitative Equity group. Dr. Nanda, formerly Professor Nanda, joined Price in 2000 and has managed the five-star Diversified Small Cap Growth fund (PRDSX) for the past nine years. The initial expense ratio will be 0.79% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, though that’s reduced to $1000 for various sorts of tax-advantaged accounts.

T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Small & Mid-Cap Core Equity Fund

T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Small & Mid-Cap Core Equity Fund will seek long-term growth of capital through a broadly diversified portfolio of small- and mid-cap U.S. stocks. The plan is to use quantitative models (the “QM”) to select small- to mid-cap stocks, comparable to those covered by the Russell 2500, based on “valuation, profitability, stability, management capital allocation actions, and indicators of near term appreciation potential.” Up to 20% might be international stocks, but that disclosure seems mostly a formality. The fund will be managed by Boyko Atanassov, a quantitative equity analyst with Price for the past five years. The initial expense ratio will be 0.89% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, though that’s reduced to $1000 for various sorts of tax-advantaged accounts.

T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Value Equity Fund

T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Value Equity Fund will seek long-term growth of capital through a broadly diversified portfolio of U.S. stocks believed to be undervalued. The plan is to screen firms based on “valuation, profitability, stability, management capital allocation actions, and … near term appreciation potential,” then assess their valuations based on price-to-earnings, price-to-cash flows, and price-to-book ratios, and compares these ratios with others in the relevant investing universe. The fund will be managed by Farris Shuggi, a Price quantitative equity analyst with three master’s degrees. The initial expense ratio will be 0.74% and the minimum initial investment is $2,500, though that’s reduced to $1000 for various sorts of tax-advantaged accounts.

Templeton Dynamic Equity Fund

Templeton Dynamic Equity Fund will seek risk adjusted total return over the longer term. The whimsical plan is to use a “bottom-up, value-oriented, long-term approach” to select individual equities then use a long/short ETF portfolio to manage sector exposures and hedge its global market exposure with some combination of cash, ETFs and futures. The technical term for this strategy is “a lot of moving parts.” The fund will be managed by a Templeton team: James Harper, Norman J. Boersma, and Heather Arnold.  “A” shares have a 5.75% front load, a $1000 minimum and a 1.57% initial e.r. “Advisor” shares are no-load with a 1.32% e.r. “R” shares are no-load but impose a 0.50% 12(b)1 fee for a total e.r. of 1.82%.

Vanguard Core Bond

Vanguard Core Bond will seek to provide total return while generating a moderate level of current income. The plan is to invest in all different sorts of bonds with very little guidance in the prospectus about which or why, other than to target an average maturity of 4-12 years and to limit non-dollar-denominated bonds to 10% of the portfolio. At base, this looks like Vanguard’s attempt to generate an active fund that’s just slightly more attractive than a broad bond market index. The fund will be managed by Brian W. Quigley, Gemma Wright-Casparius, and Gregory S. Nassour, all of Vanguard. The initial expense ratio will be 0.25% on Investor shares and the minimum initial investment is $3000.

Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond

Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond will seek to provide total return while generating a moderate level of current income. The plan is to invest in all sorts of EM bonds, including high yield. For their purposes, the emerging markets are everybody except Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and most European Monetary Union countries.  In general, they’ll buy bonds which are “denominated in or hedged back to the U.S. dollar.” The fund will be managed by Daniel Shaykevich, who has been with Vanguard for three years and co-leads their Investment Grade Non-Corporate team. Before joining Vanguard he spent almost nine years as an EM bond manager for BlackRock. The initial expense ratio will be 0.60% and the minimum initial investment is $3000.