American Independence Launches the Laffer Dividend Growth Fund

NEW YORK, May 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- American Independence Financial Services, LLC ("American Independence"), a New York-based investment advisory firm and manager of mutual funds and separate accounts, today announced the launch of the American Independence Laffer Dividend Growth Fund. The fund is based on the Dividend Growth Equity Strategy of Laffer Investments, a global asset manager based in Nashville, Tenn. Laffer Investments will act as sub-advisor for the fund, which will be marketed to financial intermediaries in the U.S.

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"The Laffer Dividend Growth Fund – the only mutual fund managed by Laffer Investments – will provide advisors and their clients with access to Laffer's investment management capabilities," said Eric Rubin, President of American Independence. "The fund is targeted to investors looking to compound their wealth over time both through dividend income and price appreciation.  By following a dividend growth strategy, this fund focuses on equity investments in high-quality, growing businesses. It will appeal to those who are looking to invest in publicly traded companies which generate sufficient cash to both grow their business and provide consistently increasing dividends to shareholders."

"We are very excited to partner with American Independence as a sub-advisor to the American Independence Laffer Dividend Growth Fund," said Arthur B. Laffer, Jr., President of Laffer Investments.  "Now advisors and their clients have the opportunity to access our Dividend Growth Strategy without having to meet the higher minimums of separately managed accounts."

The Laffer Investments Dividend Growth Strategy utilizes a bottom-up, fundamentally driven process in building portfolios. The primary objective of the Fund is to generate a competitive total return by investing in a diversified portfolio of U.S.-listed equity securities that offer an attractive combination of yield and the opportunity for growing dividends. The Portfolio is constructed using a combination of common stocks, American Depository Receipts (ADRs), Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and Business Development Companies (BDCs). Overall portfolio risk is actively monitored and managed on several key levels, including valuation/dividend yield, sector/industry diversification, quantitative security analysis and fundamental company analysis.

The American Independence Laffer Dividend Growth Fund will be managed by investment management industry veteran Steven F. Shepich, CFA, CPA, of Laffer Investments. Shepich has been managing equity model portfolios for over a decade at Laffer Investments, Ameriprise Financial and at H&R Block Financial Services.

Follow American Independence on Twitter @AmIndependence.

About American Independence Financial Services, LLC
American Independence is an investment advisory firm registered with the SEC providing professional, actively managed investment advisory services to 10 American Independence funds, as well as separately managed accounts, aggregating approximately $900 million in assets under management as of March 31, 2014. The firm is comprised of industry leaders with over 25 years of average industry tenure. To learn more about American Independence, visit http://www.americanindependence.com or call (646) 843-6901.

About Laffer Investments
Founded in 1999, Laffer Investments is a global asset manager that combines innovative economic research and analysis with real-world capital markets experience to create unique investment offerings to the benefit of clients. Laffer Investments uses incentive driven macroeconomic principles pioneered by its founder, Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, in the management of many of its investment portfolios. These principles form the basis of a unique economic philosophy, which is applied to many disciplines and processes employed in the creation of investment strategies.

Media Contact:
Patty Buchanan
Fastlane Communications
(973) 670-1203
[email protected]

Company Contact:
American Independence Financial Services, LLC
Eric Rubin, President
Tel. 646-747-3477
[email protected]

Disclosures
Investing in the Fund involves risk. Stock and bond values fluctuate in price so the value of your investment can go down depending on market conditions.

Equity Securities Risk.  In general, prices of equity securities are more volatile than those of fixed income securities. The prices of equity securities fluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to activities specific to the issuer of the security as well as factors unrelated to the fundamental condition of the issuer, including general market, economic and political conditions.

Master Limited Partnerships Risks. Investments in common units of MLPs listed on the major U.S. stock exchanges involve risks that differ from investments in common stock including risks inherent in the structure of MLPs, including (i) tax risks (described further below), (ii) risk related to limited control of management or the general partner or managing member (iii) limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, except with respect to extraordinary transactions, (iv) conflicts of interest between the general partner or managing member and its affiliates, on the one hand, and the limited partners or members, on the other hand, including those arising from incentive distribution payments or corporate opportunities, and (v) cash flow risks, as described in more detail in this Prospectus.

Correlation Risk. While MLPs have historically low correlation to other asset classes, there has been a measureable increase since the financial crisis of 2008. This pattern has been present in other times of severe equity market stress.

Energy Sector Risks. As many MLPs operate within the energy sector, a portion of the MLPs in which the Fund may invest may be affected by changes in the energy sector of the economy, including adverse political, legislative or regulatory developments. At times, the performance of securities of companies in the energy sector may lag the performance of other sectors or the broader market as a whole. In addition, there are several specific risks associated with investments in the energy sector, including the following:

• MLPs operating in the energy sector are subject to significant regulation of nearly every aspect of their operations by federal, state and local governmental agencies;
• MLPs can be subject to commodity price risk when there is a decline in exploration, transport and processing of energy products related to volatile energy prices.  MLPs may be adversely affected by reductions in the supply or demand for energy commodities;
• The ability of MLPs operating in the energy sector to grow and to increase cash distributions to unitholders may be highly dependent on their ability to make acquisitions that result in an increase in cash flows;
• Rising interest rates which could adversely impact the financial performance and/or the present value of cash flows of MLPs operating in the energy sector; and
• MLPs operating in the energy sector are subject to many dangers inherent in the management, transportation, storage, gathering, compressing, treating, processing, marketing and fractionation of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined petroleum and petroleum products and other hydrocarbons. In addition, threats of attack by terrorists on energy assets could impact the market for MLPs operating in the energy sector.

Tax Risk. The benefit the Fund derives from its investment in MLPs is largely due to the tax treatment of MLPs which are generally taxed partnerships. Partnerships do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership's income, gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change in the business of a given MLP, could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP would be reduced and the after-tax return to the Fund with respect to its investment in such MLPs would be materially reduced. Thus, if any of the MLPs owned by the Fund were treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it could result in a reduction in the value of your investment in the Fund and lower income.

New Fund Risk. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the Board of Trustees or the Adviser may determine to liquidate the Fund. The liquidation can be initiated by the Board of Trustees without a shareholder vote and, while shareholder interests will be the paramount consideration, the timing of any liquidation may not be favorable to certain individual shareholders. The sub-adviser has not previously managed an open end fund.

For a complete list of fund risks, please see the prospectuses.

For more complete information on the American Independence Funds, you can obtain a prospectus containing complete information for the funds by calling 866-410-2006, or by visiting www.aifunds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before you invest or send money. Information about these and other important subjects is in the Fund's prospectus or summary prospectus.

Shares of the American Independence Funds are distributed by Matrix Capital Group, Inc., which is not affiliated with American Independence Financial Services, LLC.

Not FDIC Insured - May Lose Value - No Bank Guarantee

SOURCE American Independence Financial Services, LLC