Products January 25, 2011

Transamerica Expands Alternative Strategies Portfolio

Transamerica has enhanced its Transamerica Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Portfolio with what it described as “a variety of niche, non-traditional asset classes."
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According to the announcement, the increase in market demand for alternative strategies prompted Transamerica and Morningstar Associates LLC, the portfolio’s construction manager, to add more absolute return-oriented strategies and low correlation asset classes available for inclusion in the Transamerica Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Portfolio.  

Investment options including commodities futures, managed futures, long-short equities, and a global tactical asset allocation strategy were recently introduced as underlying investment offerings, and Transamerica noted that later this year, an arbitrage strategy will be added. Transamerica has partnered with AQR Capital Management, First Quadrant, L.P., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P., J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., and Water Island Capital, LLC to launch these strategies.  

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“Partnering our expertise in manager selection with Morningstar’s proprietary asset allocation modeling, allows us to continuously search for new strategies and efficiently combine those offerings into one fund,” stated John K. Carter, Transamerica Asset Management, Inc.’s President and CEO. “We believe our strategy gives advisors and investors a unique option to achieve a diversified alternative allocation.”  

Transamerica Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Portfolio is offered in Class A, C and I shares.  Financial professionals interested in learning more should call the Transamerica sales desk at 800-851-7555.  

Products January 25, 2011

Forward Management Unveils Tactical Fund

Forward Management launched the Forward Tactical Enhanced Fund (FTEEX) that seeks profit through continuous management of market exposure.
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The Tactical Enhanced Fund uses the same base strategy employed by the Tactical Growth Fund, but is tailored to investors with higher-than-average absolute return targets and tolerance for risk and volatility.  The Enhanced strategy differs by using somewhat greater leverage; up to 200% net long or 100% net short.  It also allows for more opportunistic trading around the portfolio’s core holdings to take advantage of shorter-term market movements, which can lead to benefits from higher market volatility and  maximize potential profit when the market remains within a tight trading range.

According to the announcement, the fund’s investment strategy is designed to evaluate potential long and short investments in an attempt to isolate securities that the manager believes are undervalued or overvalued relative to their intrinsic value and offer the greatest risk-adjusted potential for returns. The manager will rely on a variety of factors to determine whether the market itself, or a particular sector or industry, is undervalued or overvalued including valuation and monetary conditions, investor sentiment, and momentum factors.

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The investment process blends top down, fundamental analysis of macroeconomic factors and investor sentiment with quantitative model-driven analysis of market momentum.  Based on its assessment of market signals, the team invests the portfolio long, short, or neutral to the market.  The strategy invests in both U.S. and non-U.S. securities primarily through futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) to provide equity market exposure while attempting to avoid stock selection risk. The investment objective of both funds is to produce above-average, risk-adjusted returns, in any market environment, while exhibiting less downside volatility than the S&P 500 Index.

Both the Tactical Enhanced Fund and the Tactical Growth Fund are subadvised by Broadmark Asset Management, LLC. The Tactical Enhanced Fund is offered in investor, institutional, A and C share classes and is available through Charles Schwab, National Financial, Pershing and Matrix Clearing, the announcement said.

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