Context Asset Management, a new alternative mutual fund, is aiming to give investors access to cutting-edge alternative investment strategies with the ease and simplicity of traditional mutual funds.
Alternative mutual funds have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years driven by institutional and retail investors looking for hedge fund-like returns with lower fees and advisors responding to client demands for an alternative to traditional portfolio construction.
Context's solutions combine the low correlation and low volatility of hedge fund strategies with the transparency and low minimums of traditional investing.
"At Context, we have made a commitment to helping our clients seek to reach their financial goals and plan for their economic futures," says Steve Kneeley, chief executive officer of Context. "We work with our clients, their intermediaries and our own capital to produce positive outcomes. Whether the goal is saving for retirement, paying for college or traveling with friends and family, we want our investors to have the freedom to do what they want to do and to be who they want to be."
Previous entrants into the alternative mutual fund space have primarily been either traditional mutual fund providers or hedge fund managers, both of whom have had a singular focus. The Context team has experience in investing, asset allocation and manager selection at alternative and traditional asset management firms, family offices and large endowments.
The firm will offer multi-manager and single-manager funds that provide advisors and their clients with access to emerging and established managers with historically successful strategies.
Context's first fund, the Context Alternative Strategies Fund (CALTX), a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund, is now available for purchase.
"Our experience has shown it is possible for the best hedge fund managers to consistently outperform the market," says John Culbertson, managing director and chief investment officer of Context. "We have obtained access to those managers, constructed portfolios around their strategies and are now offering them to retail and institutional investors in a liquid, transparent form."
Context's management believes alternative mutual funds are important to portfolio management because they are designed to produce efficient, risk-adjusted returns and they present an opportunity to increase portfolio diversification. They also have a lower correlation to the equity and fixed income markets, which may decrease portfolio volatility while pursuing compelling investment returns. Because they are regulated, open-end mutual funds, they reduce a variety of risks normally associated with hedge fund investing by offering daily pricing, daily liquidity, transparent reporting and third-party custody of assets.
