https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1558107/000139834419000860/fp0038702_497.htm
497 1 fp0038702_497.htm
ALPS Series Trust
Clarkston Select Fund
(the “Fund”)
Supplement dated January 18, 2019
to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated January 29, 2018, as supplemented
Notice to Close the Clarkston Select Fund
Effective January 28, 2019, the Fund is closed to investment by new and existing shareholders. However, the ability to redeem Fund shares remains unchanged.
INVESTORS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Thanks, Shadow, msf and Junkster. Appreciate you guys taking the time to give your input.
I'll go with a 10% allocation for now, and build from there.

If you believe the GMO 7-year forecasts, along with many of the other pundits, emerging markets is the place to be for the next 5-10 years relative to other asset classes; so I would expect the Grandeur Peak funds to do well since they are heavy on emerging markets. Only time will tell, I'm not unloading mine just yet!

Happy PRWCX holder here .... I'll make a point to go online and stream it. Giroux is always interesting listening.

Yup, I'm still 31.79% in PRWCX. I'll be quite interested to see what he has to say.

FWIIW, Panasonic, of which we own two TVs and 3 vacs, has abandoned the US consumer market.

Sept. 03, 2014
"Panasonic Corporation today announced that it will launch its audio products under the Technics brand name again, reviving its brand long synonymous with high-quality hi-fi sound to deliver richer, emotionally-engaging sound and musical experiences. ...
"Through the new Technics, Panasonic will bring to discerning music and audio fans around the world a whole new level of wonder and inspiration by delivering authentic sounds, true to the artists' original intention. "
https://news.panasonic.com/global/topics/2014/28722.html
Panasonic puts new spin on legendary turntable, shows off headphones at CES 2019
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/panasonic-turntables-headphones-ces-2019/
No vacuum cleaners, that's for sure.

Yup, I'm still 31.79% in PRWCX. I'll be quite interested to see what he has to say.

@JoeD
If you have concerns, you can always start with a very small position and see how it progresses over time before making a significant investment.
I am sure others have had concerns with an investment in a mutual fund. The fund is registered with the SEC, it does have other investors and it has $91MM in AUM.
Think about when Bridgeway Funds first started. The manager, John Montgomery, was not a household name. Bridgeway had no prior track record. Investors took a chance on an unknown. Investors were rewarded initially.
Keep in mind, it is hard for a new mutual fund to gather assets if it doesn't market itself. You probably learned about the fund either through this Board or M*.

+1.

Before jumping back into junk bond funds at the end of December I was 100% in a Fidelity money market fund. I would had no qualms whatsoever having all that in STATX were it available to me at T D Ameritrade. Kind of reminds me of IOFIX in early 2017 in its trend persistence. Many refused to invest in IOFIX then because they didn’t understand its mandate and portfolio of toxic debt.

hank +1
Derf

“Investing icon Warren Buffett advises investors to stash 90% of their money in a Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fund and keep the rest in short-term government bonds.”
Anybody know what degree of truth this statement attributed to Buffet holds? I was aware that he shifted all or most of his retirement funds to something like that nearly a decade ago, in part, because he wanted to simplify things for his wife to manage after his death.
If Buffet made such a statement directed at all investors (1) I’m not aware of it and (2) it would be preposterous advice because each individual’s situation is unique. If I had 90% of my retirement savings in the S&P 500 I’d be always on “pins & needles”, unable to sleep and, perhaps, standing out on a NYC ledge during one of those single-day thousand-point dips in the Dow.
Back to Buffet - When people have amassed mega-millions it sometimes causes them to invest / view risk differently than most of us small-fry. Some avoid the risk of stocks completely and move into bonds, thinking they can survive the remainder of their lives on what they already have. Others, like Buffet, are content to go with the averages and remain heavily invested in equities.

FYI: (Fund is closed to new investors.)
Regards,
Ted
January 17, 2019
Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber,
How concerned are you about stock market risk? Have occasional eight hundred point drops in the Dow, corrections in various indices, presidential tweets and trade disputes had you reaching for your Pepto-Bismol or Valium?
Market volatility has definitely picked up in the last year or so. Not an unusual occurrence. There have been many rocky periods, plus several euphoric highs and nail-biting lows during the long bull market that began in 2009. But those are not the risks that this week’s guest is focusing on. He is looking at much more fundamental, structural changes that he says are affecting the long-term future of specific companies, lots of them.
He is David Giroux, Portfolio Manager and Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Fund which is a Morningstar Gold Medalist and carries a Five-Star rating. Giroux was named Morningstar’s Allocation and Alternatives Fund Manager of the Year in 2017, the second time he was so honored and has been nominated for the award several other times.
It is Giroux’s role as Head of Investment Strategy at T. Rowe Price that is the focus of much of today’s conversation because he is leading research projects across T. Rowe Price’s investment platform and asset classes. One of his major efforts is identifying secular risk in companies and avoiding companies that have it. He and his team estimate that over a third of S&P 500 companies are facing risks that will result in lower performance over the next ten years and that their numbers are increasing.
As always, this week’s program is available to our PREMIUM subscribers right now. In our exclusive EXTRA feature with David Giroux you’ll learn about a book that he says has improved his and his team’s productivity significantly.
Thank you for watching. Have a lovely weekend and make the week ahead a profitable and a productive one.
Best regards,
Consuelo
Video Clip:

M* Snapshot PRWCX:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/prwcx/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot PRWCX:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/prwcx
PRWCX Is Ranked #19 In The (50-70/% E) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
https://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/allocation-50-to-70-equity/t-rowe-price-capital-appreciation-fund/prwcx

FYI: In our latest Masters in Business podcast, we speak with Jack Bogle, founder of the $3.5 trillion dollar Vanguard Group, creator of the index fund, and all around investing legend.
Bogle tells the fascinating story of Vanguard’s origins. At the time, he was Chairman of the Wellington Funds, and due to a disastrous merger, was fired from that role. He found a niche within the asset management group running Wellington’s what he describes as unmanaged funds. This was the first equity index fund — Bogle later created the first bond index fund as well — and he named the new management company company for the HMS Vanguard, flying Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson’s flag.
Bogle discusses Wall Street’s initial response to index funds, explains why no one ever really decided to compete with Vanguard, and holds a master class on the proper way to invest.
In our MiB interviews, we usually come prepared with 5 broad topic areas and over 50 questions I use to guide the conversation. Bogle, however, is a force of nature, and after gamely trying to say on script for about 12 minutes, I quickly gave up, satisfied to merely have an amazing conversation with one of the most legendary personalities in all of finance.
Regards,
Ted
https://ritholtz.com/2016/03/mib-jack-bogle-vanguard-group-founder-2/

@BenWP
I called the transfer agent;the telephone number is:
(440) 922-0066 ext. 123 (that is a direct line to Steven Milcinovic at Mutual Shareholder Services LLC).
He actually emailed me the applications.

As an aside, a pretty well diversified low volatility (OMG), managed (OMG) fund, VMVFX beats all of the listed funds since its inception except one. The exception is barely being beat out by the SP500 fund. I realize one of the funds is a bond fund. So, what makes those funds so great for 2019?

https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T030-S001-6-best-vanguard-index-funds-for-2019-and-beyond/index.html
Investing icon Warren Buffett advises investors to stash 90% of their money in a Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fund and keep the rest in short-term government bonds. That’s a good start for investors who want to keep things simple, but it limits your investments to large U.S. companies. So today, we’ll show you how the best Vanguard index funds can add more portfolio diversification while still keeping your strategy simple.

@JoeD,
The telephone number on the website seems to be to the actual office of the fund rather than the transfer agent's office.
There was a post on M* (under "Bond Squad" with STATX) that resonates the same sentiment about the telephone number to Las Vegas and how the inquiry was handled.
Here is the link to M* discussion on STATX:
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/p/385173/3953084.aspx
M* listed VG as the only brokerage to trade STATX.
I believe the prospectus mentioned something about paying dividends at least twice a month:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679960/000116204418000223/state485bpos201803.htm
FUND DISTRIBUTIONS
The Fund distributes substantially all of its net investment income to shareholders in the form of dividends. The Fund intends to declare and distribute income dividends every two weeks to shareholders of record. In addition, the Fund distributes any net capital gains it earns from the sale of portfolio securities to shareholders no less frequently than annually. Net short-term capital gains may be paid more frequently. Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the Fund.

http://www.tbil.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mutual-Fund-Fund-Fact-Sheet-Final-01.11.19.pdf
Link to STATX (State Funds Enhanced Ultra Short Duration Fund) Fact Sheet.
Wish I understood a bit more about the leveraging effect via lending (reverse repos) and how much that contributes to the returns. They do offer a nifty little video at their site.
Not sure why they pay out divys 2x per month. Treasuries don't pay interest, correct? You buy at a discount. But I guess they churn with those repos and collect fees.
*Fund receives securities lending collateral which is limited to (i) 102% cash or (ii)
102% - 115% US Government Securities.
* Fund lends its 3 Month Treasury bills and receives a lending fee which is paid to the
fund and distributed as a dividend to investors.
Maybe this is a fund that only works if the AUM stay small and they can pick off those "pennies and nickels"?

So it's okay to talk about the orangutan but not the racoon? (I hear you can get sued for the former.)

Taking a closer look at this now than I did in the last thread, and I'm wondering how far off you are with that "Bernie" comment.
The strategy has echoes of RPHYX's - buying "orphaned securities; exceedingly short-term (think 30-90 day maturity) securities for which there are few other buyers."
[Than you Professor for Riverpark's fund profile: https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2012/09/riverpark-short-term-high-yield-fund-rphyx-july-2011-updated-october-2012/]
In the case of RPHYX, the remnants are short term junk bonds that the fund manager believes have little risk of default. In contrast, STATX is picking up short term Treasuries (with presumably even less risk of default).
While both funds may be picking up coins from the sidewalk (bonds that aren't being bought by other investors), ISTM that RPHYX is picking up nickels and STATX is picking up pennies.
So how does STATX generate an SEC yield a full percentage point higher than RPHIX's, even allowing for its 1/2 percent lower fees? Especially since it is investing in higher grade bonds, slightly shorter average maturity (1.0 vs. 1.1 years), and lower duration (0.01 vs. 0.55 years)?
The only thing I see is the use of reverse repurchasing agreements, which as the prospectus states, has "a leveraging effect on the Fund’s NAV".