Manager Change in International Fund

Litman Gregory Fund Advisors, LLC (LGFA) announced that effective May 10, 2012, they have removed Mastholm Asset Management as a sub-advisor to the Litman Gregory Masters International Fund. The fund will continue to be managed by the fund’s five other sub-advisors. Read more>>

Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund Reaches $250 Million Under Management

Litman Gregory Fund Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of fee-only investment advisory firm Litman Gregory Asset Management, announced that the Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund (MASFX) surpassed $250 million under management in five months after the fund was launched on September 30, 2011.

“We see strong demand from financial advisors seeking access to world-class managers of alternative strategies, at a reasonable cost, in a public mutual fund structure. Advisors also see the diversification offered by the multi-manager structure as a particularly appealing feature of the fund.” said Ken Gregory, Chief Investment Strategist and Founding Partner of Litman Gregory Asset Management, LLC and Litman Gregory Fund Advisors, LLC.

The Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund is a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund that combines alternative and absolute-return-oriented strategies chosen based on Litman Gregory’s conviction that each individual manager’s strategy is compelling, and that collectively the strategies are well diversified. The fund seeks to achieve long-term returns with lower risk and lower volatility than the stock market, and with relatively low correlation to stock and bond market indexes at a reasonable cost.

The Story Behind Litman Gregory's New Alternative Strategies Fund

An Interview with Litman Gregory's Chief Investment Strategist and Co-Founder Ken Gregory

Q. Why is this a good time to launch an alternatives fund?
We remain concerned about the global macro environment, specifically the deleveraging that must take place in the private sector in some countries, the public sector in some countries, and both sectors in other countries. A deleveraging headwind will challenge global growth, raise the risk of policy mistakes, and we think in general will continue to present investors with a high-risk environment for several years. There are negative scenarios which are not certain but still possible that we don't believe are fully priced into the equity markets. And, based on our analysis, we believe that the other major financial asset class -- investment-grade bonds – is set for low nominal returns over the next three to five years given today's low yield level.

So with that backdrop, alternative strategies that offer relatively low correlation to stocks and bonds, relatively low risk, and the potential for alpha generation that can lead to above average risk-adjusted returns – are appealing. The key though is in the execution. What is appealing in theory is not necessarily easy to implement in the real world, something we've seen over and over again with various financial products.

As we've searched through the alternatives world over the last few years we have found a few interesting funds but not many. So despite the fact that there is enormous demand, as evidenced by money flows, we believe the universe of funds generally represents a lot of mediocrity. We began thinking about creating our own fund because we wanted to offer a diversified, very high-quality alternatives option to our clients. We didn't believe it existed in the marketplace so we set out to see if we could do it better ourselves. Read more>>