Longboard Launches Managed Futures Mutual Fund

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Longboard Asset Management has announced the launch of the Longboard Managed Futures Strategy Fund (WAVIX), an investment product offering our managed futures strategy in a mutual fund package. Unlike the fund of funds structure, our goal is to offer direct access to portfolio manager talent at relatively lower costs and with greater transparency when compared to fund of funds or private placement opportunities.

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"We believe The Longboard Managed Futures Strategy Fund is positioned to meet the needs of the investment advisor community that has previously been unable to efficiently access the managed futures asset class," said Cole Wilcox, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Longboard. "Longboard's objective is to solve the needs of the investment advisor community."

The managed futures asset class has grown seven fold in the last 10 years, driven primarily by institutional investors. Managed futures provide the flexibility to take long and short positions across four major asset classes (stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities), thus generating the possibility for return opportunities in any economy. We feel the traditional advisors' portfolio construction is missing this key allocation, often due to the high minimum investment levels, illiquidity and a lack of transparency in a hedge fund structure. In a national survey recently conducted by Morningstar and Barron's[i], for the second year in a row advisors cited managed futures as the asset class to which they were most likely to increase their exposure.

"After experiencing years of market turmoil, we believe financial advisors have a real need for alternative forms of portfolio diversification for their clients," Wilcox continued. "Until now there have been significant structural barriers for investment advisors looking to obtain efficient access to the benefits of managed futures.  Longboard attempts to offer financial advisors a value proposition by providing direct-to-manager access within a mutual fund."

Longboard is designed to deliver direct access to managed futures while also providing transparency coupled with a cost effective fee structure to the full breadth of the advisory landscape including: fee-based RIAs, family offices, independent broker/dealers, and wirehouses.

Longboard was co-founded by Cole Wilcox and Eric Crittenden who together have invested over a decade in the managed futures sector.

About Longboard Asset Management

Longboard is an alternative asset management firm specializing in Managed Futures.  Through its long/short trend following strategies, Longboard accesses more than 100 global markets.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Longboard is committed to providing clients with world-class strategy, implemented by experienced managers, in a cost effective, transparent and accessible Mutual Fund structure. For more information, visit www.longboard-am.com or contact Mark Currier at 602.910.6968, [email protected]

For media inquiries about Longboard Asset Management, please contact Dana Taormina at 973-850-7305 or [email protected].

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Longboard Managed Futures Strategy Fund. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the prospectus, which can be obtained by calling 855-294-7540.  The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

The Longboard Managed Futures Strategy Fund is distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, member FINRA.  Longboard Asset Management is not affiliated with Northern Lights Distributors, LLC.

Long: Buying a security such as a stock, commodity or currency, with the expectation that the asset will rise in value.

Short: Any sale that is completed by the delivery of a security borrowed by the seller.  Short sellers assume they will be able to buy the stock at a lower amount that the price at which they sold short.

Mutual Funds involve risk including possible loss of principal.  The Fund will invest a percentage of its assets in derivatives, such as commodities, futures and options contracts.  The use of such derivatives and the resulting high portfolio turnover, may expose the Fund to additional risks that it would not be subject to if it invested directly in the securities and commodities underlying those derivatives.  The Fund may experience losses that exceed those experienced by funds that do not use futures, options and commodities.

Changes in interest rates and the liquidity of certain investments could affect the Fund's overall performance.  The Fund is non-diversified and as a result, changes in the value of a single security may have significant effect on the Fund's value. Other risks include credit risks and investments in fixed income securities, structured notes, asset-back securities, and foreign investments.  The Fund may utilize a wholly-owned subsidiary, not registered under the 1940 Act and therefore not subject to all of the investor protections under the Act.  Although only 25% of the Fund's assets may be invested in the Subsidiary, that portion may be highly leveraged.   

Furthermore, the use short positions and leveraging can magnify the potential for gain or loss and amplify the effects of market volatility on the Fund's share price.  The Fund is subject to regulatory change and tax risk.  Changes to current regulation or taxation rules could increase costs associated with an investment in the Fund. 

[i] http://corporate.morningstar.com/us/asp/subject.aspx?xmlfile=174.xml&filter=PR4817

SOURCE Longboard Asset Management