Category Archives: Funds

Marshfield Concentrated Opportunity (MRFOX), February 2019

By Dennis Baran

Objective and strategy

MRFOX seeks capital preservation and long-term growth of principal while targeting a pattern of performance that’s at variance with the market, different from it in as many ways as possible, and adds value on a risk-adjusted basis. The managers’ goal of avoiding the “closet index” trap while laying the groundwork for superior performance means

  • owning a thoughtful concentration of approximately 20 stocks
  • holding cash between of 0-25 percent while awaiting well-priced opportunities
  • steering clear of generic “consensus” stocks and
  • being freed from sector and market capitalization constraints

Continue reading →

Funds in registration

By David Snowball

Just a handful of new funds were registered with the SEC this month, perhaps in response to the disruption caused by the government shutdown which affected the SEC. In any case, we’ve chosen to highlight just two funds from that list; both are guided by first-rate managers whose long careers and other funds should engender considerable interest and respect. Continue reading →

Funds in registration

By David Snowball

Before funds can be offered to the public, they’ve got to be submitted to the SEC which has 70 days to review the application. In general, advisers try to launch just before years end because that allows them to have clean “year to date” and calendar year results to share. These launches will likely occur in late February or March.

Many prospectuses were still incomplete but a couple stand out for offering services from well-respected advisors: Diamond Hill, which has a Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

Before funds can be offered to the public, they’ve got to be submitted to the SEC which has 70 days to review the application. In general, advisers try to launch just before years end because that allows them to have clean “year to date” and calendar year results to share. That means that funds hopeful of launching by December 30th needed to be filed by October 15th. Since few firms are interested in launching funds in late January or early February, this month’s filings are not-surprisingly thin. On face, the most promising is likely an actively-managed ETF from a team with a strong track record in funds: Virtus Seix Senior Loan ETF.

AB Multi-Manager Select 2060 Fund

AB Multi-Manager Select 2060 Fund will seek highest Continue reading →

Provident Trust Strategy Fund (PROVX), December 2018

By Dennis Baran

Objective and strategy

PROVX seeks long-term growth of capital. As a concentrated, non-diversified, bottom-up, multi-cap core growth equity fund, it aims to exceed the S&P 500 Index over full investment cycles, which are typically five to seven calendar years in length and contain both a 30% advance and a 20% decline.

The managers generally prefer to invest in large and medium capitalization stocks (namely, companies with at least $2 billion in market cap) but may also invest a portion in small capitalization companies.

Provident has the Continue reading →

Funds in registration

By David Snowball

Before funds can be offered to the public, they’ve got to be submitted to the SEC which has 70 days to review the application. That means that funds hopeful of launching by December 30th needed to be filed by October 15th. We’re looking for funds that might be accessible to the average investor or advisor; we include active ETFs but not passive ones. That last restriction allows me to pretend that neither ProShares Pet Care ETF nor the US Vegan Climate ETF is about to be inflicted on us. Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

Before funds can be offered to the public, they’ve got to be submitted to the SEC which has 70 days to review the application. That means that funds hopeful of launching by December 30th need to be filed by October 15th. This month’s 15 new funds, including offerings from both DoubleLine and T. Rowe Price, represent the first part of that year-end wave. Continue reading →

Conestoga SMID Cap Fund (CCSMX & CCSGX), September 2018

By Dennis Baran

Objective and strategy

The managers seek long-term growth of capital favorable to its benchmarks with lower risk – specifically companies with 12-15% earnings growth potential for at least three years. They typically hold 40-60 SMid stocks whose valuations are attractive relative to their growth prospects. SMid caps have market capitalizations between $250 million and $12 billion, and are generally within the range of those in the Russell 2500 Growth Index.
Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

A surprising number of interesting funds have quietly entered the SEC’s new-fund pipeline. While we don’t cover passive ETFs or funds not available to the general public, even there there were interesting developments. DFA Emerging Markets Targeted Value Portfolio will target small and mid-cap EM value stocks, which is consistent with DFA’s research bent and validates the increasing interest in EM value. Impact Shares YWCA Women’s Empowerment ETF will target firms whose values align with the YWCA’s long-time public goals. Of more direct interest, Rajiv Jain of GQG Partners is launching a fund focusing on US equities, a long-time AllianzGI manager is adding an EM value fund to the mix, The Great Gabelli is seizing the helm of his 15th fund and a team from France is offering a direct challenge to the ideology of market-cap-weighted indexes. Continue reading →

Zeo Short Duration Income (ZEOIX), July 2018

By Charles Boccadoro

 

*Zeo Capital Advisors, LLC ceased operations on 5/1/2022*

This fund is now Osterweis Short Duration Credit Fund. 

“Perhaps time’s definition of coal is the diamond.”

Kahlil Gibran

Objective and Strategy

The Zeo Short Duration Income Fund (ZEOIX), previously known as the Zeo Strategic Income Fund, is a non-diversified, actively managed, total return, fixed-income fund that seeks …

  • “ … to deliver low volatility, risk-managed solutions for the prudent investor.”
  • “ … low volatility and absolute returns consisting of income and moderate capital appreciation.”
  • “ … long-term capital preservation, income and moderate capital appreciation across market environments.”
  • “ … low volatility, absolute returns in a long-only fixed income portfolio.”
  • “ … to deliver a consistent, low-volatility risk profile suitable for both short and long time horizons.”
  • “ … to deliver low volatility.”

Clearly, ZEOIX’s focus is Continue reading →

LS Opportunity Fund (LSOFX), July 2018

By David Snowball

Objective and strategy

LS Opportunity Fund pursues three goals: preserving capital, delivering above-market returns and managing volatility. “The secret,” says manager John Gillespie, “is to avoid large losses.” They invest, both long and short, in individual stocks; they do not short “the market,” they don’t use esoteric options and they don’t typically use ETFs. They normally will have 20-40 short positions and 50-70 long ones. The long portfolio is both all-cap and value-oriented, both of which are fairly rare. The short portfolio targets Continue reading →

Holbrook Income Fund (HOBIX), July 2018

By Dennis Baran

Objective and strategy

The fund seeks to provide current income with a secondary objective of capital preservation in a rising interest rate and inflationary environment.

The manager’s goal is to achieve a 2% return above inflation, generate income, and protect principal. By managing credit and interest rate risk, limiting duration, and minimizing drawdown to less than 2%, it’s designed to fend against frontal attacks that may ravage the bond market which reduce investor returns and suffocate Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

VanEck has registered a launch a video-gaming and e-sports ETF, which strikes me as silly in the extreme but at least doesn’t include cryptocurrencies. “Silly in the extreme” means we’re not saying anything more about it. Happily, a bunch of really solid offerings – a new Litman Gregory, a bond fund run by ex-PIMCO guys, an emerging markets offering from LSV and the ETF version of several four-star funds – were filed at the same time. All of these funds and active ETFs are likely available by the end of September. Continue reading →

Centaur Total Return Fund (TILDX), June 2018

By David Snowball

This profile is no longer valid and remains purely for historical reasons. The fund has a new manager and a new strategy.

Objective

The fund seeks “maximum total return” through a combination of capital appreciation and income. The fund invests in undervalued securities, mostly mid- to large-cap dividend paying stocks. The manager has the option of investing in REITs, master limited partnerships, royalty trusts, preferred shares, convertibles, bonds and cash. The manager invests in companies “that he understands well.” The manager also generates income by selling covered calls on some of his stocks. As of February 28, 2018, the fund held 21 different investments, which Continue reading →

Index Funds S&P 500® Equal Weight NoLoad (formerly Index Funds S&P 500® Equal Weight), (INDEX), June 2018

By David Snowball 

At the time of publication, this fund was named Index Funds S&P 500® Equal Weight.

Objective and strategy

The fund equally weights all of the stocks in the S&P 500 index and rebalances its portfolio quarterly.

Adviser

The Index Group, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While they are legally permitted to Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

Lately, new fund and active ETF launches have been rare – only seven new retail funds launched in the first five months of 2018 – and occasionally silly. Last month saw a registration filing for an active “pet parents” fund; this month saw a filing for a passive “pet care” ETF. You need neither (and should avoid both), so we’ll say no more about them. While this is a slow month for new fund registrations, at least it’s not a silly one. In the main, these funds will be available for purchase by August 1.

Adler Value Fund

Adler Value Fund, will seek Continue reading →

Prospector Opportunity (POPFX), May 2018

By David Snowball

Objective and strategy

The Opportunity Fund seeks capital appreciation. They apply a value-oriented discipline to micro-, small- and mid-cap stocks in the US and other developed markets. In general, the managers look for companies with long, consistent, predictable track records of free cash flow yield generation and healthy organic growth. They identify undervalued securities by starting with balance sheet strength but they also consider qualitative factors (e.g., quality of the management) and the presence of a Continue reading →

Funds in Registration

By David Snowball

Proposed new funds and ETFs have to be submitted for review by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has 75 days to raise any concerns. During those 75 days, the so-called “quiet period,” advisors are forbidden from discussing the fund in registration. Advisors hoping for a fund launch by New Years have their funds in registration by October; those seeking a mid-year launch get the papers filed in April. A lot of the filings were rushed and incomplete. That said, the BBH and Metropolitan West income funds are apt to be entirely reasonable additions; for income-seeking investors, they bear Continue reading →

Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators (IWIRX), April 2018

By David Snowball

Objective and strategy

The fund seeks long term capital growth through investing in what they deem to be 30 highly innovative, reasonably valued, companies from around the globe. They take an eclectic approach to identifying global innovators. They read widely (for example Fast Company and MIT’s Technology Review, as well as reports from the Boston Consulting Group and Thomson Reuters) and maintain ongoing conversations with folks in a variety of industries. That leads them to identify a manageable set of themes (from artificial intelligence to clean energy) which seem to be driving global innovation. They then identify companies substantially exposed to those themes (about 1000), then weed out the financially challenged (taking the list down to 500). Having identified a potential addition to the portfolio, they also Continue reading →