Van Hulzen Launches Iron Horse Fund

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Van Hulzen Asset Management, LLC and Witter Partners LLC today announced the launch of the Iron Horse Fund (IRHAX), a mutual fund investing in dividend‐paying U.S. equities and using call options with the purpose of reducing portfolio volatility and creating incremental income. Van Hulzen, based in northern California, is Advisor to the Fund. Witter Partners, headquartered in New York City, is Van Hulzen’s strategic distribution and marketing partner.

Van Hulzen, which has managed equity and covered call portfolios for over a decade, will employ its proprietary risk management process, which targets lower portfolio volatility compared to the S&P 500 Index and other equity indices. The strategy focuses on adding income by investing in dividend‐paying equities, as well as writing options on both individual stocks and stock indices. A call option gives another investor the right to purchase a security, owned by the Fund, at a higher price in the future. The Fund receives income when it gives that right. By selling the right to purchase a stock, the Fund is foregoing a portion of its uncertain price appreciation with a goal of higher current income. Options are considered "covered" when the Fund owns the stock at the time it sells the option. If the Fund sells a position, it will cover (buy back) the call options.

According to Van Hulzen Asset Management’s CEO Craig Van Hulzen, “We believe this is the perfect time for a covered call strategy, which is designed to reduce equity risk and increase income. Slower economic growth stands to limit stock price appreciation, and enormous sovereign debts are adding volatility to securities markets. We feel investors should put more emphasis on income and risk management. My firm has managed covered call portfolios on behalf of clients for nearly ten years, and we are excited to launch a fund that leverages our experience.”

Raymond Godfrey, Managing Partner and Chairman of Witter Partners, said, “We are delighted to joint venture with an innovative investment advisor who has managed a covered call strategy in separate accounts for years. The Iron Horse Fund seems especially timely and suitable in the current market environment. We believe this new fund will have strong appeal for conservative investors seeking a disciplined strategy for capital appreciation and lower volatility.”

There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. The use of covered call strategies does not ensure profits or guarantee against losses.

About Van Hulzen Asset Management

Folsom, California based Van Hulzen Asset Management is an SEC‐registered investment advisory firm and has a strategic partnership with Wedbush, Inc., the holding company that controls Wedbush Securities and Wedbush Capital Partners. Van Hulzen was founded by Craig Van Hulzen in 2000. Mr. Van Hulzen has advised on risk management topics for over a decade and has managed a covered call strategy since late 2001. Mr. Van Hulzen also provides risk management consulting services to institutional clients with approximately $6 billion under management. John Pearce joined Van Hulzen Asset Management in 2008 from Credit Suisse, where he was a Director in the Investment Banking division and advised large corporations and institutions on value‐based topics. Prior to Credit Suisse, Mr. Pearce worked for HOLT Value Associates and Arthur Andersen. Stefan ten Brink joined Van Hulzen Asset Management in January 2011 from Petercam Asset Management in Amsterdam, where he was a Portfolio Manager. Prior to Petercam, Mr. ten Brink co‐managed the equity portfolio of the Ahold Pension Fund.

About Witter Partners

Witter Partners is a merchant banking and strategic advisory firm formed with members of the third generation of the Dean Witter family. Its activities include introducing a select group of largely “under‐the‐radar” money managers to sophisticated investor groups, including small institutions, endowments, family offices, and ultra‐high net worth individuals, both domestically and internationally. The managers employ varying styles, including hybrid mutual funds, long‐only, market‐neutral, long‐short equity and event driven approaches. Witter will also acquire interests in managers both for investment and to provide managers with a liquidity vehicle. Witter was formed by Ray Godfrey with Managing Partner Sherry Pryor, Chief Investment Officer of MD Witter Investments, after Mr. Godfrey retired from Needham & Co., an independent investment bank based in New York, where he was a Co‐ Founder. Co‐Founder Gary Lantta, formerly Managing Director of Business Development for David W. Tice & Associates, joined the firm upon formation and directs the firm’s mutual fund business.

For more information: please visit www.ironhorsefund.com

Disclosures: Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Iron Horse Fund. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the prospectus, which can be obtained at www.ironhorsefund.com or by calling 855-241-7514. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. The Iron Horse Fund is distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC member FINRA.

Mutual Funds involve risk including the possible loss of principal. There is no assurance that the fund will achieve its investment objectives. Investments in foreign securities could subject the Fund to greater risks including, currency fluctuation, economic conditions, and different governmental and accounting standards. The use of leverage embedded in written options will limit the Fund's gains because the Fund may lose more than the option premium received. Investments in lesser‐known, small and medium capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations. Selling covered call or stock index options will limit the Fund's gain, if any, on its underlying securities and The Fund continues to bear the risk of a decline in the value of its underlying stocks. Van Hulzen Asset Management is not affiliated with Northern Lights Distributors, LLC.

Definitions:

Volatility: A statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.

S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged composite of 500 large capitalization companies. This index is widely used by professional investors as a performance benchmark for large‐cap stocks. You cannot invest directly in an index. 1438‐NLD‐7/8/2011