Expensive stock markets and low-yielding bond markets are clear SIGNPOSTS to investors that an allocation to alternatives may make sense both strategically and tactically. Learn more in this fourth quarter 2018 update of the Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund.
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The fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectuses contain this and other important information about the investment company, and it may be obtained by calling (800) 960-0188, or visiting www.mastersfunds.com. Please read it carefully before investing.
Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.Diversification does not assure a profit nor protect against loss in a declining market.
References to other mutual funds should not be deemed an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy shares of such funds.
Litman Gregory Fund Advisors LLC has ultimate responsibility for the performance of the Masters Funds due to its responsibility to oversee the investment managers and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement.
Multi-investment management styles may lead to higher transaction expenses compared to single investment management styles. Outcomes depend on the skill of the sub-advisors and advisor and the allocation of assets amongst them.
Though not an international fund, The Alternative Strategies Fund may invest in foreign securities. Investing in foreign securities exposes investors to economic, political, and market risks. The fund will invest in debt securities. Investments in debt securities typically decrease when interest rates rise. This risk is usually greater for longer-term debt securities. Investments in mortgage-backed securities include additional risks that investor should be aware of including credit risk, prepayment risk, possible illiquidity, and default, as well as increased susceptibility to adverse economic developments. Investments in lower-rated and non-rated securities present a greater risk of loss to principal and interest than higher-rated securities. The Alternatives Strategies Fund will invest in derivatives. Derivatives may involve certain costs and risks such as liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, management, and the risk that a position could not be closed when most advantageous. Investing in derivatives could lose more than the amount invested. The Alternative Strategies Fund may make short sales of securities, which involves the risk that losses may exceed the original amount invested. Merger arbitrage investments risk loss if a proposed reorganization in which the fund invests is renegotiated or terminated. The Alternative Strategies fund may employ leverage. Leverage may cause the effect of an increase or decrease in the value of the portfolio securities to be magnified and the fund to be more volatile than if leverage was not used. Investment in absolute return strategies are not intended to outperform stocks and bonds during strong market rallies.
Sharpe Ratio is measure of a fund’s return relative to its risk. The Sharpe ratio uses standard deviation to measure a fund’s risk-adjusted returns. The higher a fund’s Sharpe ratio, the better a fund’s returns have been relative to the risk it has taken on. Because it uses standard deviation, the Sharpe ratio can be used to compare risk-adjusted returns across all fund categories. The Fund’s Sharpe Ratio ranked 1 out of 117 in its Peer Group, US OE Multialternative Morningstar Category from 10/1/2011 to 3/31/2018. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.
The Morningstar Rating for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed products monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10 year overall rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. iMGP Alternative Strategies Fund was rated against the following numbers of Multialternative funds over the following time periods as of 12/31/2019: 237 funds in the last three years, and 187 funds in the last five years. With respect to these Multialternative funds, iMGP Alternative Strategies (MASFX) received a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars and 4 stars for the three- and five-year periods, respectively. Ratings for other share classes may be different. Morningstar rating is for the Institutional share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics. The Investor share class received a rating of 3 stars and 4 stars for the three- and five-year periods, respectively.
©2020 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Alpha is an annualized return measure of how much better or worse a fund’s performance is relative to an index of funds in the same category, after allowing for differences in risk.
Beta is a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole.
Correlation is a statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to each other.
Drawdown is the peak-to-trough decline during a specific record period of an investment, fund or commodity.
Duration is a commonly used measure of the potential volatility of the price of a debt security, or the aggregate market value of a portfolio of debt securities, prior to maturity. Securities with a longer duration generally have more volatile prices than securities of comparable quality with a shorter duration.
Price to earnings ratio (P/E Ratio) is a common tool for comparing the prices of different common stocks and is calculated by dividing the current market price of a stock by the earnings per share. Similarly, multiples of earnings and cash flow are means of expressing a company’s stock price relative to its earnings per share or cash flow per share, and are calculated by dividing the current stock price by its earnings per share or cash per share. Forecasted earnings growth is the projected rate that a company’s earnings are estimated to grow in a future period.
Sharpe ratio is the measure of a fund’s return relative to its risk. The Sharpe ratio uses standard deviation to measure a fund’s risk-adjusted returns. The higher a fund’s Sharpe ratio, the better a fund’s returns have been relative to the risk it has taken on. Because it uses standard deviation, the Sharpe ratio can be used to compare risk-adjusted returns across all fund categories. The Fund’s Sharpe ratio ranked 1 out of 117 in its Peer Group, US OE Mulitalternative Morningstar Category from 10/1/2011 to 3/31/2018. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Upside/downside capture is a statistical measure that shows whether a given fund has outperformed–gained more or lost less than–a broad market benchmark during periods of market strength and weakness, and if so, by how much.
The Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a market capitalization-weighted index, meaning the securities in the index are weighted according to the market size of each bond type. Most U.S. traded investment grade bonds are represented. The index includes US Treasury Securities (non TIPS), Government agency bonds, Mortgage backed bonds, Corporate bonds, and a small amount of foreign bonds traded in U.S.
The S&P 500 Index consists of 500 stocks that represent a sample of the leading companies in leading industries. This index is widely regarded as the standard for measuring large-cap U.S. stock market performance.
Each Morningstar Category Average represents a universe of Funds with similar investment objectives.
Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur expenses, taxes or fees and cannot be invested in directly.
iMGP Funds are distributed by ALPS Distributors Inc.
LGM000711 exp. 6/13/2019