Advisors Preferred, an infrastructure provider for investment advisory firms looking to create and distribute mutual funds, has reported record growth with the addition of five new funds and a new sub-advisor, Beaumont Capital Management (BCM).
The firm’s assets under management total approximately USD2.9 billion, an increase of over USD2 billion or 294 per cent year over year.
“Our robust growth and success have been reinforced by the confidence shown by our sub-advisors in partnering and growing with us. For investment advisors, mutual funds constitute significant undertakings in terms of time, structure, costs, marketing, distribution and platform access, as well as regulatory requirements. The services we provide are designed to take the burden off the investment manager so they can concentrate on their investment strategy,” says Catherine Ayers-Rigsby, Advisors Preferred president.
Mutual funds offered on the Advisors Preferred platform comprise primarily actively-managed strategies intended to help investors manage risk and market volatility. Advisors Preferred assists with product consultation, market intelligence, platform access, sales reporting, compliance services and advanced trading, Ayers-Rigsby says.
The firm is working with BCM on the launch of its inaugural mutual fund, the BCM Decathlon Moderate Fund (DECIX/DECMX). The first mutual fund in BCM’s Decathlon family, it is managed in a similar way to the firm’s successful Global Multi-Asset Decathlon Moderate Tactics separately managed account (SMA) which has a nine-year track. This opportunistic fund is a Global Tactical Asset Allocation (GTAA) strategy that uses a predictive, quantitative approach focused on maximising alpha within a targeted volatility range or risk budget.
“We chose Advisors Preferred to launch our first fund because of the distribution package they offered and the ease of their process. Their expert team handled everything that was required and worked closely with us for a smooth fund debut,” says David Haviland, BCM managing partner and lead portfolio manager.
Flexible Plan Investments (FPI), subadvisor to Advisors Preferred, introduced three new funds to its Quantified funds family offered on the Advisors Preferred platform. The Quantified Family of Funds is a series of actively managed funds that employ dynamic, risk management strategies to adjust to market environments. The three new Quantified funds are Rising Dividend Tactical (QRDTX), Government Income Tactical (QGITX) and Tactical Sectors (QTSSX).
“Flexible Plan has worked with Advisors Preferred for several years and the firm is integral to our fund operations. Through the years, Advisors Preferred has been a trusted partner dedicated to the growth and success of our funds and we have built on that relationship,” says Jerry Wagner, founder and president of Flexible Plan and one of the Quantified Funds’ portfolio managers.
Advisors Preferred sub-advisor Spectrum Financial also launched a new fund, the Spectrum Unconstrained Fund (SUNBX). With a mix of technical and fundamental analysis, the Spectrum family of funds offers strategies that seek to mitigate risk while capturing steady returns. The Spectrum Unconstrained Fund employs a flexible investment approach to seek total return from capital appreciation and income from interest on debt securities and dividends on preferred stocks, while seeking to avoid downside volatility.
“The assistance that Advisors Preferred provides is instrumental to Spectrum and our funds. It is a strong and invaluable collaboration that we look forward to continuing into the future,” says Ralph Doudera, Spectrum Financial lead portfolio manager.
“We are proud to be working with such a prestigious team of investment managers and very gratified they have opted to expand on our platform. We enhance our services on an ongoing basis to facilitate the mutual fund process for advisors,” says Brian Humphrey, Advisors Preferred director of distribution.
