BERWYN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brinker Capital, a leading investment management firm, today announced the formal launch of three 40-Act liquid alternative mutual funds – Crystal Strategy Absolute Income Fund, Crystal Strategy Absolute Return Fund, and Crystal Strategy Leveraged Alternative Fund – designed to mirror the investment strategy of the firm’s Crystal Strategy suite of global macro funds. The Funds will be offered primarily through the insurance-based and independent broker dealer channels as well as through Registered Investment Advisors. The Funds are available via the Fidelity IWS and NFS, Pershing, Schwab, TD Ameritrade and LPL custodial platforms.
In 2009, Brinker Capital launched The Brinker Capital Crystal Strategy I, one of the investment industry’s first absolute return portfolios embedded in a separately managed account format, as a means of helping financial advisors preserve client capital in down markets while capturing appreciation in up markets. Crystal Strategy I, which is managed by Brinker’s in-house investment management team, performs like a traditional absolute return investment, but has lower fees in comparison with many funds, and offers daily liquidity, daily transparency into account holdings, and an investment minimum of just $100,000.
It is on this same strategy that Brinker Capital’s three new liquid alternative mutual funds are based.
“We had high expectations for Crystal Strategy when we launched it four years ago, but the reception of financial advisors and their clients to the product surpassed anything we could have imagined,” said John Coyne, Vice Chairman of Brinker Capital. “Over past several years, we’ve had requests from numerous advisors for Crystal Strategy in a mutual fund format, only with lower investment minimums. Our new funds are an answer to their requests.”
The three funds each have their own specific investment strategies and places within an investment portfolio, but they do share certain characteristics, including broad asset class exposure, diverse strategies, highly-focused stock selection and portfolio hedging and risk management. Additionally, each fund comprises three traditional (domestic equity, international equity, fixed income) and three non-traditional asset classes (private equity, absolute return, real assets). The investment minimum is $1,000 for Class A shares of each fund.
- The Absolute Income Fund (CSTFX) seeks to provide current income and downside protection to conventional equity markets with absolute (positive) returns over full market cycles as a secondary objective.
- The Absolute Return Fund (CSRAX) seeks to provide positive (absolute) returns over full market cycles.
- The Leveraged Alternative Fund (CSLFX) seeks to provide long-term positive absolute return with reduced correlation to conventional equity markets as a secondary objective.
About Brinker Capital
Brinker Capital, Inc. is a leading investment management firm that provides managed account investment programs to individual and institutional investors through financial advisors. Brinker was founded in 1987 by Charles Widger and is located in suburban Philadelphia. Learn more at www.crystalstrategyfunds.com and www.twitter.com/BrinkerCapital. Brinker Capital, Inc. a Registered Investment Advisor.
Important Information
Please note that investing in alternative strategies involves a high level of risk and is not suitable for all investors. The Crystal Strategy Funds are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested and therefore are not suitable for all investors. The Funds may not achieve their objectives. Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.
An investor should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain this and other information about the Crystal Strategy Funds, see the Prospectus available from your financial advisor, visit www.crystalstrategyfunds.com, or call (855) 572-1722. Read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
The Crystal Strategy Family of Funds is distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc., 1290 Broadway, Ste. 1100, Denver, CO 80203.
Separately managed accounts and related investment advisory services are provided by Brinker Capital.
ALPS is not affiliated with Brinker Capital and does not distribute separately managed accounts.
The Crystal Strategy Family of Funds is new and has limited operating history.
Not FDIC Insured – No Bank Guarantee – May Lose Value.
Investment Risks
Alternative Investment Risk. The Team will seek to manage the Fund to balance the potential risks and rewards that we believe are present at any given time and given market. Due to the use of leverage, the Fund will be more aggressive in nature. Likewise, due to the underlying investment process, we believe that there is a strong likelihood that the Fund will perform notably different than traditional strategies with comparable levels of volatility. Similarly, despite the ability to hedge and shift Fund exposures, due to the leveraged nature of the Fund, risks will be magnified and compounded.
Asset Allocation Risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the Fund’s asset allocation, this adjustment will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs.
Borrowing Risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to Fund expenses and at times could cause the Fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to.
Concentration Risk - Investment Companies. Any investment company that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the investment company concentrates will have a significant impact on the investment company’s performance. While the Fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may hold a significant position in an investment company, and there is risk for the Fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of investment companies. The aggregation of holdings of investment companies may result in the Fund indirectly having significant exposure to a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the Fund’s returns. The Fund does not control the investments of the investment companies, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the investment companies following their own investment objectives and strategies.
Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives (which may include options, futures, swaps and credit default swaps) may reduce the Fund’s returns and/or increase volatility. A risk of the Fund’s use of derivatives is that the fluctuations in their values may not correlate perfectly with the overall securities markets. Additional, derivatives are subject to liquidity risk, interest rate risk, market risk, credit risk and management risk.
Short Sale Risk. If the Fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the Fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the Fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the Fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the Fund, could increase the exposure of the Fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns.
