@msf
href="https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/tmsrx/portfolio">per M*? A mere trifle. PIMIX / PONAX, a fund lauded here, has129% in fixed income shorts (net 188% long), and has 222% in cash shorts (net 89% short) suggesting a lot of leverage. Figures from M*.

Unfortunately M* has been off for years about PIMIX. I downloaded the last PIMCO+Bond+Stats+2023+06.xlsx from Pimco.

Hedging in the classical sense means protecting against (major) losses - think insurance.
The "protective put" mentioned above is a good example and can be analogized to collision insurance. You pay for collision insurance (a stock put). Without insurance, if your car is totaled (stock price plummets), you're stuck with salvage value (severely depressed stock price). With insurance, you get back a fair percentage of the car value (stock purchase price).
One speaks of "hedging one's bets". Merriam-Webster defines this as doing "things that will prevent great loss or failure if future events do not happen as one plans or hopes." It gives the example: "They decided to hedge their bets by putting half their money in stocks and the other half in bonds."
That's hedging, or insurance. You're paying something (opportunity cost of greater stock earnings) to protect against greater losses (100% equity exposure in a market crash).
So one answer to the original question is: everyone hedges, though most probably don't think of asset allocation as hedging.
Unfortunately (IMHO), "hedging" has become synonymous with any tinkering with risk, whether to decrease it, to increase it, or to shift it from one security (or asset class) to another.
Worried about TMSRX, that has 29% in equity shorts (net 15% short position), and 47% in fixed income shorts (net 12% long), per M*? A mere trifle. PIMIX / PONAX, a fund lauded here, has129% in fixed income shorts (net 188% long), and has 222% in cash shorts (net 89% short) suggesting a lot of leverage. Figures from M*.
The trick is to know (a) why the manager is hedging (for protection or profit or both), and (b) how the heding is done (i.e. how is the risk profile being altered). ISTM knowing the first is possible (from manager statements, fund behavior) but knowing the second is difficult. Hence a natural aversion to "excessive" hedging.

update:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423013179/fp0084407-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0084407-3_497.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
Grandeur Peak Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Contrarian Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Explorer Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Micro Cap Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Opportunities Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Reach Fund
Grandeur Peak Global Stalwarts Fund
Grandeur Peak International Opportunities Fund
Grandeur Peak International Stalwarts Fund
Grandeur Peak US Stalwarts Fund
(each, a “Fund”)
Supplement dated July 17, 2023
To the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
The Funds’ Reorganization date, as previously announced in the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, has been extended to on or about October 6, 2023.
For additional information regarding the Funds’ Reorganization, see the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
*********
Please retain this supplement with your Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.

update:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423013179/fp0084407-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0084407-1_497.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
Rondure New World Fund
Rondure Overseas Fund
(each, a “Fund”)
Supplement dated July 17, 2023
To the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
The Funds’ Reorganization date, as previously announced in the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, has been extended to on or about October 6, 2023.
For additional information regarding the Funds’ Reorganization, see the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
*********
Please retain this supplement with your Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of
Additional Information.

Thanks @MikeM
I’m looking at JHQAX right now thru my subscription to the FT. It shows 97.6% long U.S. equity, 1.82% long non-U.S. equity. No shorts. Top 5 equities: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet. Those 5 comprise over 23% of portfolio. All 5 of those stocks, except Amazon, have gained over 30% the past 1 year. And Nvidia is up 200% over that time. So, how that fund hedges is a mystery looking at the chart. I imagine it sells buys puts on its holdings. Pretty common practice. Giroux was big into that several years ago. But don’t know about today.
Re Nvidia, I noticed the other day it was one of the top 2 or 3 holdings in PRPFX. The fund does invest in “aggressive growth stocks.” So I guess it struck “gold” with that one.
Don’t know about Schwab’s site. But Fido’s analytical tool will show short positions as a % of any asset you own and subtract that sum to display your “net” long equity position. Good tool. Shows me 50% equity long, 8% short for a net 42% equities, Sounds about right considering all my holdings plus a 1.5% short position (SPDN) I initiated directly yesterday. Interestingly, it also shows a small (4%) short position in short term bonds. Possibly one of my alternatives has figured out how to do that.

Why delayed since 2017?

I hold JHQAX, JPMorgan Hedged Equity Fund. I bought in over 2 years ago and have added to it to a point where it is about 10% of my portfolio. We've talked about this fund before and I guess I really can't explain very well the put-call spread collar strategy it uses. I only know it moves with the S&P500 with a much smoother ride. As a hedge fund, it's a way of participating in the equity markets at much less volatility. It just rolls along making money when the market is going up and losing much less when the market declines (upside capture ratio ~51%, downside ~36%.)... FWIW.

The other guy on the fund is the head quant for T. Rowe.

Update, 7/18/23
Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for recovery.
Current Score: YBB 1, Pneumonia 0.
I just completed a 5-day course of a strong antibiotics. It didn’t do much for 3 days – that was disheartening at one point. But then, things improved dramatically. Full recovery will take time. I would have to be cautious about a relapse. I will also think about where and how I caught a sudden pneumonia that literally knocked me out – almost.
I had all the pneumonia shots PPSV-23, Prevnar-13. Now they have a combo/single vaccine, and at some point, I may have that too – this current infection should cause natural immunity for a good while.
Thanks to Capital at Big Bang, @ceciljk at MFO, @eceprof at M* for posting information at those discussion boards.

May have to buy some of this GQHIX eventually. Continues to perform well within my risk toerance since inception. 2023 struggling. TDA/Schwab merger.....Schwab carries this at reasonable min.
Question: Anyone know the ticker of the Vontobel EM fund he managed mid 90's?
[snip]

Rajiv Jain started managing Vontobel Fund - Emerging Markets Equity Fund in 1997.
I didn't find a US ticker since the fund is domiciled in Luxembourg.

Note the September 2017 link to MFO @TheShadow provided. Quite an extensive discussion / though I have no recollection of it. Sounds like Giroux was already larger than life way back than.

I've sadly not watched BBG in months, but that concerns me.....

On the first point +1. You haven’t missed anything.
On the second point, I guess it’s the frequency more than the content of TRP’s latest ad. Most of the big players run them. Personally, I enjoy those from Dodge & Cox best. :)
T. Rowe Price ”You Can’t Buy” 2023 Spot TV Ad
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/12T4/t-rowe-price-you-cant-buy

har and cool, comical and astounding
There's a big honkin' footnote for Great Owls, M*, Lipper, Zacks ....
https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2117450/4-balanced-mutual-funds-to-buy-for-stability-in-uncertain-times
https://www.morningstar.com/asset-management-companies/state-farm-BN00000A2N
All as casual as I in their labor.
(Maybe some do catch that exclusion, as I am being casual here too.)

Thanks for the thoughts @Baseball_Fan
As to your question, I’ve viewed the issue both as a possible long term tactic and, more importantly, as a near-term proposition.
Longer term is tough to justify. But if you are a good stock picker (I’m not) you could argue that your investments will do much better than the general market. Shorting the general market (in an unspecified amount) might allow you to take additional risk in the stocks you are more comfortable with. The shorts will provide a degree of protection in sharp sell offs while your stock choices will outperform the overall market most of the time.
ISTM that’s the philosophy behind most long-short funds. Maybe market neutral and hedged equity too - not sure. I’m pretty sure T. Rowe’s TMSRX has a small short position. And their globally diversified RPGAX used to include a 10% weighting in a Blackstone hedge fund that employed shorts. Don’t know if it does any more. Just to say the notion’s not as far-fetched as might sound.
Shorter term, I’m struck by the near unanimity of some pretty smart investors in the Barron’s Roundtable that (1) The S&P is greatly overvalued and (2) there are still many attractive stocks in many other areas. It would seem logical to short the S&P while adding to your undervalued equity areas? No.
I realize it’s not that simple. The old adage about ”Markets can remain irrational longer than most investors can remain solvent” applies.

TRAIX @ Schwab. This discussion got me curious if this fund could be purchased at Schwab. I went to trade mutual fund and put in the symbol. To my surprise it told me that fund required a $1.00 minimum and no transaction charge. When I tried to buy it the order was not accepted and said to call in. Long story short I was told there was an error in the software but given my account status I could purchase it with $100,000 minimum as an institutional purchase. True? I didn’t try but maybe I will take them up on it when some stuff matures.

This is how Schwab site works.
You can search for TRAIX and it found nothing, usually, it means you can't buy it.
Then you can try buying it. In the case of TRAIX you can't even pass the first screen.
Sometimes, you can pass the first screen, but on the second screen, you will get a warning or narrative that tells you you can't and the site won't let you buy it.
===========
Per Firstrade. In the past, I just opened an account in Welltrade because you could buy Ishares funds that were close or had a high min in other brokers. I also made sure I can add to these funds at the receiving broker.
After I did it, I transferred these funds to my original brokerage IN KIND at no cost.
Then I closed the account at WellsTrade and made sure the receiving company paid for these fees.

That’s a hard approach to wrap your head around. If it’s a only small position (ie 1-3% of assets in an inverse fund) you should want to lose $$ on it, since that probably means your total portfolio is doing quite well. But, it’s difficult to want to see anything you hold fall …
Some I’ve used over the years as short term hedges in small amounts: SPDN, DOG, TAIL, CCOR. GLTR (metals). None (except the precious metals fund) really did well. All offered some mitigation of downside volatility. Selling buying puts seems to be one method of hedging. I think that’s what Hussman uses in HSGFX. The fund has netted close to 0% since inception about 15 years ago. I’ve never set stop-loss orders, but I guess that’s another form of hedging. Of the bunch I’ve played around with, TAIL proved the worst, as it’s tied to the VIX which hasn’t behaved the way it was expected to on big down days. Also, TMSRX and BAMBX attempt to hedge market volatility. Look great on paper, but haven’t exactly shot the lights out!
There are of course many long-short, market neutral, hedged equity type funds that employ shorts hedging. So as a fund holder you can more / less shut your eyes to the portion of the fund getting hammered. Beware - Those types of funds are often high-fee.
Cash is a hedge, especially at today’s near 5% yield. Limited ability, however, to cushion really big downside. Also, I’ve thought of using a small position in long U.S. Treasuries as a hedge, but haven’t actually tried it. Would have been a nasty ride I’m afraid.

Also worth noting that the bulk of the outperformance (relative to FBALX, for example) occurred from June 23 of this year on. That smacks as a bit of pure luck in being in the right place at the right time.
It has some pluses in having smaller market cap holdings, more obscure tech holdings, and has been a decent performer, however, I don't personally care for the wide fluctuations in its year-by-year performance. Out of 10 years (and one partial), it was 1st quartile a very impressive 6 times... BUT... 4th quartile 3 times! In contrast, FBALX was 1st quartile an outstanding 9 times and 4th only once.
Anyway, Crash, I hope you find what you're looking for...

+1.

This one might be "flashier" than what @Crash had in mind, but give a look to DGIFX, which just happens to fall into the same Lipper/MFO category as PRWCX/TRAIX. M* 5 star/gold. Not on any of the fund supermarkets, so requires direct investment.

Wow, that thing's taken off, with a bullet. Heavy in tech.
OK, it's on the list, now. Going to examine that one deeper. It's a small/mid-cap fund, however. A good helping of bonds, which is a positive thing.
*OOPS. Minimum to get in = $10k. Deal-Killer.

In case you are wondering what happened to some of your etf's today. Several of mine had dropped in half. At first I blamed M*. :)
https://www.etftrends.com/innovative-etfs-channel/invesco-executes-share-splits-what-this-means-investors/

The Atlanta-headquartered firm is executing forward splits for 23 funds and reverse splits for three funds, impacting some of the firm’s largest ETFs. The funds will effect the share splits after market close on July 14, with trading beginning on a split-adjusted basis on July 17.