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Alternatives can provide superior risk-adjusted returns, less volatility, and proven downside protection. AQR Premia Style Alternative N Fund and AQR Premia Style Alternative Low Volatility N Fund. Integrating these two style premia alternative funds into your portfolio. Surfing beach near Tofino, B.C. Ⓒ Sandy Cliff Research Alternative funds come in many shapes and sizes these days. In the past six years, they have flooded the market. Why? Because, if structured properly, they can provide superior risk-adjusted returns and less volatility. As Vanguard pointed out in its August 2014 white paper Liquid alts: a better mousetrap? these new strategies “constitute a new industry with explosive growth. More than 70% of their cash flows and 68% of new product launches have come since 2009; 50% of these flows and products have come just in the three years through 2013.” For a detailed listing of alternative funds launched just last year, see DailyAlts.com New Funds listing . Long-short, market-neutral, style premia, managed futures, and multialternative are some examples of these offerings. Financial advisors are now recommending these types of investments to replace varying percentages of equities and bonds in a traditional portfolio. The AQR Style Premia Alternative Fund ( QSPNX ) and AQR Style Premia Alternative LV Fund ( QSLNX ): AQR Capital Management: AQR Funds started out as a hedge fund shop in 1998 and entered the mutual fund business in 2009 in order to make its strategies available to a wider range of investors. Quantitative research forms the basis for all of the firm’s strategies. The firm has an academic bent with many of its principals and associates holding Ph.Ds. Fund managers and associates continue to research and refine the methodologies used in their funds. Results of their findings are often published in academic journals and can be found at AQR.com . Additional information on the two Premia funds discussed below as well as other AQR funds can be found at funds.AQR.com Fund Classes and Purchase Information: The details offered for these two funds refer to the N share class. Both N and I share classes are available from Fidelity with a minimum purchase of $1,000,000 for the N class and a minimum of $5,000,000 for the I class. However, initial minimum investments of these funds into “group retirement accounts such as Fidelity Simplified Employee Pension-IRA, Keogh, Self-Employed 401(k), and Non-Fidelity Prototype Retirement accounts are $500 or higher. Additional investments into Regular, IRA, and Group accounts are $250 or higher.” I was able to buy both QSPNX and QSLNX for my Fidelity retirement IRA for a minimum purchase of $2,500. AQR funds, according to the Morningstar entry for each of these funds, can also be purchased at over a dozen U.S. other financial forms including Vanguard, Schwab, etc. Important note: All share classes of the AQR Style Premia Alternative Fund and the AQR Style Premia Alternative LV Fund will close to new investors effective at the close of business on January 29, 2016. In November 2015, AQR stated that these two funds were closing due to “capacity constraints associated with the investment strategy employed by these Funds.” However, prior to this announcement, AQR filed with the SEC for approval for a new AQR Style Premia Alternative Fund II. There is no word as yet on date launch, expenses or any details on whether a low volatility version of this will be launched as well. Investing Style: The Style Premia Alternative and the Style Premia Alternative LV invest long and short across six different asset groups: stocks of major developed markets – approximately fourteen hundred stocks (for QSLNX and up to 1800 stocks for QSPNX) across major markets equity indices – twenty-one equity indexes from developed and emerging markets fixed income – bond futures across six markets; short-term interest rate futures in four markets currencies – twenty-two currencies in developed and emerging markets commodities – eight commodity futures Management employs long-short strategies across all of these asset groups based on four investment styles: value – the tendency for relatively cheap assets to outperform relatively expensive ones momentum – the tendency for an asset’s recent relative performance to continue in the future carry – the tendency for higher-yielding assets to provide higher returns than lower-yielding assets defensive – the tendency for lower-risk and higher-quality assets to generate higher risk-adjusted returns Management since inception: Andrea Frazzini, Ph.D., M.S.; Jacques A. Friedman, M.S.; Ronen Israel, M.A.; Michael Katz, Ph.D., A.M. oversee both funds. Details specific to QSPNX: Opened on 10/31/13. 2015 Return: 11.08%. 2015 Return: 8.50%. Expenses: 1.75%. Annualized volatility target level: 10% (with a range of 8-12%). Fund size: $1.7 billion. The listed % of risk allocation is: Global Stock Selection 33.7% Equity Markets 18.8% Fixed Income 16.5% Commodities 16.2% Currencies 14.7% Number of long holdings 969; number of short holdings 732. Details specific to QSLNX: Opened on 9/17/14. Year 2015 Return: 3.85%. Expenses: 1.10%. Annualized volatility target level: 5% (similar to the historical volatility of intermediate-term government bonds; typical range between 3% and 7%). Fund size: $185.2 million. Percent of risk allocation is: Global Stock Selection 33.2% Equity Markets 20.3% Fixed Income 17.3% Currencies 15.9% Commodities 13.4% Number of long holdings 864; number of short holdings 659. Integrating These Two Style Premia Alternative Funds Into A Portfolio: The alternatives landscape is littered with suggestions for adding alternatives to a portfolio, but the deciding factors are simply the individual investor’s risk tolerance, including a risk of buying an alternative fund with a short track record, and the individual’s investment timeline. I view these two Style Premia funds as alternatives to bonds within my IRA retirement portfolio. Because of tax implications, they are best held in an IRA or similar account. I have also recently added a market neutral and an equity long-short fund to my allocation. The Vanguard Managed Payout Fund (MUTF: VPGDX ) makes use of stocks, bonds, alternatives, including the Vanguard Market Neutral Fund (MUTF: VMNFX ). It has a mix that is worth considering as a foundation if you are thinking about adding alternatives to your portfolio mix. Here is a listing of its current holdings: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund 20.1% Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund 19.7% Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund 15.1% Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund 12.0% Vanguard Alternative Strategies Fund 10.4% Vanguard Market Neutral Fund Investor Shares 7.0% Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund 5.8% Commodities 5.0% Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund 4.9 For further information on alternatives you might want to check out: Brian Haskin, “Retiring Baby Boomers to Continue Liquid Alts Boom?” at DailyAlts.com which gives a good summary of and access to the PDF of “Liquid Alternatives: The Next Wave in Asset Allocation” by Matthew Glaser, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst at Lazard Asset Management. Scalper1 News
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