Avoiding Sales Loads?

Javelina

I am potentially interested in the Natixis Managed Futures Fund. Unfortunately, the class A shares have a one million dollar minimum to avoid the 5% load! The C class shares avoid the 1M minimum but have a 1% higher annual fee.

I called Natixis and they were oddly cagey about how one could buy yet avoid this fee. They did say the class Y shares don't pay the fee but "ordinarily" aren't available to the retail investor. They told me to read the prospectus. I looked at the prospectus and it was also confusing on the Y shares. It reads:

Class Y shares of the Fund may be purchased by the following entities at the following investment minimums.
A minimum initial investment of $100,000 and the minimum subsequent investment of $100 for:
• Other mutual funds, endowments, foundations, bank trust departments or trust companies.
There is no initial or subsequent investment minimum for:
• Wrap Fee Programs of certain broker-dealers, the advisers or Natixis Distributors, L.P. (the “Distributor”). Such wrap fee programs may be
subject to additional or different conditions, including a wrap account fee. Each broker-dealer is responsible for transmitting to its customer a
schedule of fees and other information regarding any such conditions.
• Retirement Plans such as 401(a), 401(k) or 457 plans.
• Certain Individual Retirement Accounts if the amounts invested represent rollover distributions from investments by any of the retirement
plans invested in the Fund as set forth above.
• Registered Investment Advisers investing on behalf of clients in exchange for an advisory, management or consulting fee.
• FundTrustees, former Fund trustees, employees of affiliates of the Natixis Funds and other individuals who are affiliated with any Natixis
Fund (this also applies to any spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and in-laws of those mentioned) and Natixis affiliate
employee benefit plans.

I don't know if Y shares is a generic term that means the same for all funds or if each fund family defines Y shares differently. Any ideas or suggestions on ways to avoid a sales load without paying higher management fees would be appreciated. Unfortunately I would be holding this outside of a retirement plan so I don't qualify in that regard. Thanks.

scott

I'm not negative on managed futures as some sites/people are (see the other article a few posts down), but the strategy really has good years and not so good years, although given the nature of the strategy, bad years are *usually* not that bad. It's generally something that one can realistically expect to hit singles in good times and bad, never homers. This is a fine MF fund, but it depends on what kind of allocation you're looking to devote to this fund - I wouldn't devote tons to it.

andrei

One can buy Natixis ASG Managed Futures Strategy Fund Class Y (ASFYX) for $100 minimum (not $100,000 !) at Scottrade. The fee $17 will apply for the trade in (and trade out, I believe). See http://research.scottrade.com/qnr/Public/MutualFunds/Summary?symbol=asfyx

[Deleted User]

ETF Alternative
http://www.greenhavenfunds.com/

VintageFreak

Why not just by TFSHX? It's managers have a pedigree. I think it's a crap shoot any way. One is buying it so one has a "multialternative" fund in one's portfolio, so one can sleep easier.

That's my take and I'm sticking to it. TFSHX has $5000 minimum.

Javelina

Yes, I'm well aware that a fund like this is just a small (5% max) component of an overall portfolio. I am invested with some trend-following CTAs which were a fantastic diversifier in 2008 for instance. The problem with CTAs is that most of them are on the 2 and 20 model so if one can get a decent managed futures product with a 1.5% fee it may be a great alternative.