Equinox Ampersand Strategy A
Name
As of 11/30/2022Price
Aum/Mkt Cap
YIELD
Exp Ratio
Watchlist
Vitals
YTD Return
-24.9%
1 yr return
-25.3%
3 Yr Avg Return
-1.4%
5 Yr Avg Return
0.9%
Net Assets
$3.35 M
Holdings in Top 10
88.9%
52 WEEK LOW AND HIGH
Expenses
OPERATING FEES
Expense Ratio 1.28%
SALES FEES
Front Load 5.75%
Deferred Load N/A
TRADING FEES
Turnover 0.00%
Redemption Fee 1.00%
Min Investment
Standard (Taxable)
$2,500
IRA
$2,500
Fund Classification
Fund Type
Open End Mutual Fund
Name
As of 11/30/2022Price
Aum/Mkt Cap
YIELD
Exp Ratio
Watchlist
EEHAX - Profile
Distributions
- YTD Total Return -24.9%
- 3 Yr Annualized Total Return -1.4%
- 5 Yr Annualized Total Return 2.6%
- Capital Gain Distribution Frequency Annually
- Net Income Ratio -0.99%
- Dividend Yield 0.0%
- Dividend Distribution Frequency Annually
Fund Details
-
Legal NameAXS Alternative Growth Fund
-
Fund Family NameEquinox
-
Inception DateSep 09, 2013
-
Shares OutstandingN/A
-
Share ClassA
-
CurrencyUSD
-
Domiciled CountryUnited States
-
ManagerAjay Dravid
Fund Description
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by utilizing two broad strategies: (1) the Equity Strategy, and (2) the Overlay Strategy. The Equity Strategy seeks to provide returns (after fees and expenses) comparable to those of the S&P 500® Total Return Index (the “Equity Index”), while the Overlay Strategy seeks to complement these equity returns with non-correlated and negatively correlated return streams that are designed to result in an overall portfolio with returns and volatility comparable to the Equity Index, while seeking to avoid the full impact of downside risk over a full market cycle (generally three to five years or longer).
(1) The Equity (Long) Strategy
The Equity Strategy seeks to track the performance of the Equity Index. It is expected that, on average, between 85% and 115% of the Fund’s assets will be exposed to broad-based U.S. equity markets, generally by investing in (i) exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) or other investment companies that seek to track the composition and/or performance of the Equity Index (or other broad U.S. equity indices), and/or (ii) derivative instruments such as futures, options or total return swaps (“swaps”) that provide exposure to the Equity Index (or other broad U.S. equity indices). The Fund will make such investments either directly, or indirectly by investing through a swap or through the Fund’s wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) which may itself invest in such assets directly or indirectly.
(2) The Overlay Strategy
The Overlay Strategy seeks to provide incremental positive expected returns, while seeking to reduce the magnitude of the losses associated with the Equity Strategy during the periods in which the Equity Index produces negative returns (“peak-to-trough drawdowns”). However, unlike traditional asset allocation methodologies, the Overlay Strategy seeks to provide enhanced diversification without the need to reduce the Fund’s Equity Strategy exposure in the process. Because the Fund’s strategy is designed to be measured over a full market cycle, the Overlay Strategy may not mitigate down-side movement in the short-term.
The Overlay Strategy consists of (A) the Hedging Strategy, which seeks to hedge dynamically all or a portion of the Fund’s exposure to the equity markets, and (B) the Enhanced Diversification Strategy, which seeks to access return streams that have generally low correlations to the equity markets.
A. The Hedging (Short) Strategy
The Hedging Strategy aims to hedge the Fund’s equity market exposure dynamically, generally seeking to reduce the overall exposure when the broad equity market is trending down, while seeking to maintain higher exposure when the broad equity market is trending up. Exposure is generally adjusted by trading in trending futures markets that are negatively correlated to equity markets, or by dynamically allocating risk to strategies that are expected to perform positively when equity markets are expected to trend down. Exposure may also be adjusted discretionarily, based on fundamental and macroeconomic analysis. Thus, the Hedging Strategy seeks to mitigate peak-to-trough drawdowns while seeking to maintain the level and volatility of the Fund’s returns.
The Fund’s sub-advisor, Ampersand Investment Management LLC (“Ampersand” or the “Sub-Advisor”) expects to implement its Hedging Strategy through accessing trading programs that tend to have generally negative correlations with equity markets and are intended to serve as a hedge for equity investment portfolios (“Hedging Programs”). This will generally involve entering into, either directly or indirectly through the Subsidiary, one or more total return swaps that provide exposure to trading strategies such as (i) the Quest Dynamic Financial Hedge Program (the “Quest Hedging Program”), a proprietary systematic futures trading strategy of Quest Partners LLP (“Quest”), a commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; (ii) the QDRA Dynamic Macro strategy, a proprietary systematic futures trading strategy of QDRA Pty Limited, an Australia-based alternative asset manager; and (iii) Quadriga SmartGold strategy, a futures and options trading program that seeks to provide “crisis alpha” during significant equity market meltdowns through dynamic long exposure to “anti-bubble assets” (such as precious metals, U.S. Treasury securities, the U.S. dollar, and the VIX® Index) and dynamic short exposure to bubble assets (such as equities, high-yield debt, and credit).
From time to time, based on market conditions, Ampersand may allocate to other Hedging Programs with low to negative correlations to equities, which may be utilized in addition to or in place of the programs described above.
B. The Enhanced Diversification Strategy
The Enhanced Diversification Strategy aims to achieve enhanced diversification through exposure to multiple strategies that seek to generate positive returns over time but tend to have low correlations to equities. The Enhanced Diversification Strategy thus seeks to enhance the Fund’s risk-adjusted performance based on Modern Portfolio Theory concepts such as the efficient frontier, which assumes that the addition of non-correlated assets to more traditional assets will result in superior risk-adjusted returns over time.
Ampersand expects to implement its Enhanced Diversification Strategy by constructing a portfolio of commodities trading programs that are managed by regulated asset managers. These enhanced diversification strategies generally provide exposure to broadly diversified global (i.e., U.S. and non-U.S.) markets across four major asset classes: stock indices, fixed income, currencies, and commodities, by opportunistically taking long or short positions, mainly in futures, forwards, options, or spot contracts.
Ampersand obtains exposure to these enhanced diversification strategies by investing directly, or indirectly through the Subsidiary, in derivative instruments such as one or more swaps.
Subsidiary. The Fund may make some or all of its investments through the Subsidiary. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets at each quarter end of the Fund’s fiscal year. Generally, the Subsidiary will primarily invest directly or indirectly in swaps, financial futures, foreign exchange currency forwards, U.S. government securities, money market funds, and/or other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary’s derivative positions. Through investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund, will among other things, be able to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to regulated investment companies. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivative instruments (including commodity futures), however, the Subsidiary will comply with the same asset coverage requirements required by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) with respect to its investments in commodity-linked derivatives (including commodity futures) that are applicable to the Fund’s transactions in derivatives. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary will not seek to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund is the sole shareholder of the Subsidiary and does not expect shares of the Subsidiary to be offered or sold to other investors.
From time to time, the Fund may hold a portion of its net assets in cash or cash equivalents, money market funds, securities issued by the U.S. government and fixed-income securities. These cash equivalents and short-term investments may serve as margin and/or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund. The Fund may also invest in short-term to medium-term fixed-income securities that are generally investment-grade, but may, from time to time, be below investment-grade. The Fund’s exposure to fixed income securities may be through investments in ETFs.
EEHAX - Performance
Return Ranking - Trailing
Period | EEHAX Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
YTD | -24.9% | -51.8% | 45.6% | 94.30% |
1 Yr | -25.3% | -53.3% | 33.5% | 86.01% |
3 Yr | -1.4%* | -18.0% | 30.2% | 71.59% |
5 Yr | 0.9%* | -19.8% | 18.8% | 39.51% |
10 Yr | N/A* | -6.4% | 11.5% | N/A |
* Annualized
Return Ranking - Calendar
Period | EEHAX Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 25.5% | -40.0% | 54.1% | 10.81% |
2022 | 3.5% | -27.6% | 38.2% | 37.29% |
2021 | 8.5% | -11.7% | 17.6% | 8.93% |
2020 | -3.4% | -17.2% | 8.9% | 76.40% |
2019 | 1.2% | -19.9% | 17.2% | 60.00% |
Total Return Ranking - Trailing
Period | EEHAX Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
YTD | -24.9% | -51.8% | 45.6% | 93.78% |
1 Yr | -25.3% | -53.3% | 33.5% | 86.01% |
3 Yr | -1.4%* | -18.0% | 30.2% | 71.59% |
5 Yr | 2.6%* | -12.5% | 20.2% | 30.25% |
10 Yr | N/A* | -5.8% | 11.5% | N/A |
* Annualized
Total Return Ranking - Calendar
Period | EEHAX Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 25.5% | -40.0% | 54.1% | 10.81% |
2022 | 3.5% | -27.6% | 38.2% | 37.29% |
2021 | 8.5% | -11.7% | 17.6% | 9.52% |
2020 | -3.4% | -17.2% | 11.5% | 77.64% |
2019 | 2.9% | -2.7% | 17.2% | 24.00% |
NAV & Total Return History
EEHAX - Holdings
Concentration Analysis
EEHAX | Category Low | Category High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Net Assets | 3.35 M | 818 K | 5.18 B | 97.50% |
Number of Holdings | 7 | 3 | 2670 | 91.15% |
Net Assets in Top 10 | 3.67 M | -175 M | 1.1 B | 77.60% |
Weighting of Top 10 | 88.87% | 1.5% | 100.0% | 8.59% |
Top 10 Holdings
- Fidelity® Inv MM Fds Government I 57.95%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
- Axs Alternative Growth Fund Limited 24.04%
Asset Allocation
Weighting | Return Low | Return High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cash | 58.15% | -67.46% | 106.99% | 23.04% |
Other | 35.91% | -35.22% | 39.56% | 2.09% |
Stocks | 5.94% | -2.90% | 119.13% | 90.16% |
Preferred Stocks | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.60% | 7.33% |
Convertible Bonds | 0.00% | -0.02% | 4.68% | 7.85% |
Bonds | 0.00% | -48.31% | 152.17% | 26.42% |
Stock Sector Breakdown
Weighting | Return Low | Return High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Technology | 25.58% | 0.00% | 43.24% | 12.28% |
Healthcare | 13.70% | 0.00% | 100.00% | 63.74% |
Financial Services | 13.22% | 0.00% | 83.83% | 53.22% |
Consumer Cyclical | 11.84% | 0.00% | 88.83% | 34.50% |
Communication Services | 9.36% | 0.00% | 32.32% | 22.81% |
Industrials | 8.15% | 0.00% | 31.93% | 69.01% |
Consumer Defense | 6.51% | 0.00% | 33.38% | 46.78% |
Energy | 3.87% | 0.00% | 32.57% | 52.05% |
Utilities | 2.74% | 0.00% | 21.71% | 37.43% |
Real Estate | 2.72% | 0.00% | 10.93% | 37.43% |
Basic Materials | 2.31% | 0.00% | 28.58% | 65.50% |
Stock Geographic Breakdown
Weighting | Return Low | Return High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
US | 5.88% | -24.26% | 116.70% | 86.91% |
Non US | 0.06% | -43.01% | 97.78% | 79.58% |
EEHAX - Expenses
Operational Fees
EEHAX Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Expense Ratio | 1.28% | 0.40% | 11.46% | 82.59% |
Management Fee | 0.75% | 0.00% | 2.50% | 10.95% |
12b-1 Fee | 0.25% | 0.00% | 1.00% | 26.79% |
Administrative Fee | N/A | 0.03% | 1.54% | N/A |
Sales Fees
EEHAX Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Front Load | 5.75% | 2.50% | 5.75% | 3.23% |
Deferred Load | N/A | 1.00% | 4.00% | 24.00% |
Trading Fees
EEHAX Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Max Redemption Fee | 1.00% | 0.50% | 2.00% | 36.67% |
Related Fees
Turnover provides investors a proxy for the trading fees incurred by mutual fund managers who frequently adjust position allocations. Higher turnover means higher trading fees.
EEHAX Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Turnover | 0.00% | 0.00% | 479.00% | 0.68% |
EEHAX - Distributions
Dividend Yield Analysis
EEHAX | Category Low | Category High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dividend Yield | 0.00% | 0.00% | 18.30% | 27.36% |
Dividend Distribution Analysis
EEHAX | Category Low | Category High | Category Mod | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dividend Distribution Frequency | Annually | Annually | Annually | Annually |
Net Income Ratio Analysis
EEHAX | Category Low | Category High | EEHAX % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Net Income Ratio | -0.99% | -3.33% | 2.88% | 59.90% |
Capital Gain Distribution Analysis
EEHAX | Category Low | Category High | Capital Mode | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Capital Gain Distribution Frequency | Annually | Annually | Annually | Annually |
Distributions History
Date | Amount | Type |
---|---|---|
Dec 19, 2019 | $0.753 | OrdinaryDividend |
Dec 19, 2018 | $0.005 | OrdinaryDividend |
Dec 21, 2016 | $0.262 | OrdinaryDividend |
EEHAX - Fund Manager Analysis
Managers
Ajay Dravid
Start Date
Tenure
Tenure Rank
Sep 09, 2013
8.73
8.7%
Dr. Ajay Dravid is the Chief Investment Officer of the Adviser and has been in this role since November 2014. Since 2011, Dr. Dravid has also served as the Managing Director of Portfolio Strategy for Equinox Fund Management, LLC, (“Equinox Funds”) an affiliate of the Adviser. As a co-portfolio manager of Equinox’s mutual funds, Dr. Dravid is involved in day-to-day portfolio and risk management, as well as in developing and structuring new products. Prior to joining Equinox Funds, Dr. Dravid was a consultant and a member of the Executive Committee of Equinox Frontier Funds. From 2004 to 2006, he was President of Saranac Capital Management. From 1996 to 2004, he was a Director and then a Managing Director at Salomon Brothers and Citigroup, where he helped to build and manage the hedge fund business and platforms. He was a co-portfolio manager for the Multi-Strategy Arbitrage funds, a quantitative analyst for Equity Long-Short funds, and the head of the Risk Committee. He was also involved in the structuring and marketing of funds and in client services. From 1993 to 1996, Dr. Dravid was a Vice President in the Asset Allocation Research Group of Salomon Brothers. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Wharton School. Dr. Dravid has published numerous papers in leading academic and practitioner journals including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of Derivatives. Dr. Dravid received a BSc in Physics from the University of Poona (India), an MA in Physics from SUNY at Stony Brook, an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Rochester, and a PhD in Finance from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He holds a securities license Series 7 and CFTC/NFA Series 3 registration.
Rufus Rankin
Start Date
Tenure
Tenure Rank
Sep 09, 2013
8.73
8.7%
Dr. Rufus Rankin is the Director of Research for Equinox Institutional Asset Management, LP and has been in this role since November 2014. Since 2011, Dr. Rankin has also served as Director of Portfolio Management for Equinox Fund Management, LLC, an affiliate of the Equinox Institutional Asset Management, LP. Dr. Rankin works on the conception, development and implementation of new products and distribution strategies for investment products managed by Equinox Funds, a role that requires daily contact with and evaluation of CTAs, and other alternative investment managers. He is a co-portfolio manager of the firm’s mutual funds. Prior to his current role, he was Product Development Manager at Solon Capital, LLC, an affiliate of the Adviser. Before then, he performed sales at SEI from August 2005 to February 2009, and was previously at Morgan Stanley from September 2004 to August 2005. Dr. Rankin holds a BA in Philosophy and a Masters in International Studies from North Carolina State University and a Doctorate of Business Administration from Grenoble Ecole de Management. His doctoral dissertation focused on statistical methods of enhancing multi-manager and multi-asset portfolio diversification, with an emphasis on portfolios of CTAs and Hedge Funds.
Tenure Analysis
Category Low | Category High | Category Average | Category Mode |
---|---|---|---|
0.07 | 23.55 | 5.98 | 7.93 |