New Trust Based On Bob Doll’s 2014 Predictions
Incapital and Nuveen Asset Management have developed an equity trust based on 10 market predictions for 2014 by Bob Doll, Nuveen’s chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager.

Incapital is the trust’s underwriter and sponsor, and is offering units to the public through broker-dealers and other firms. Nuveen Asset Management is the portfolio consultant and has selected 25 equity securities for the trust based on Doll’s predictions.

A few of Doll’s predictions for 2014 include a U.S. economy that grows 3% and private employment hitting an all-time high; 10-year Treasury yields moving toward 3.5% as the Federal Reserve completes tapering; U.S equities having another good year; and the dollar appreciating as U.S. energy and manufacturing trends continue to improve.

The portfolio includes 25 approximately equally weighted large-cap stocks from the Russell 1000 Index. Among the holdings are Macy’s, Altria Group, Chesapeake Energy Corp., Pfizer Inc., Raytheon Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., International Paper Co. and Verizon.

The trust is the first in a series of equity unit trust offerings resulting from a partnership between Incapital and Nuveen. Investor interest in unit trusts has increased over the past several years. Total assets invested in unit trusts have more than doubled in the last four years to approximately $90 billion, according to Investment Company Institute Yearbook and Incapital LLC.

The trust has an initial offering price of $10 per unit and its offering period is expected to end about April 9.


Catalyst Launches Buyback Strategy Fund
The new Catalyst/EquityCompass Buyback Strategy Fund (BUYAX) seeks to capture the potential short-term excess returns associated with public share buyback announcements.

The strategy behind BUYAX’s investments is based on the premise that stocks of companies that announce share buybacks perform well in the short term because it may signal to the market that management believes the company’s shares are undervalued.

Investment decisions will be based on several factors, including: the size of the buyback announcement, the length of time since the announcement, the price reaction to the announcement and the volume of the underlying shares, says Catalyst.


Neuberger Berman Introduces New Fund
Neuberger Berman has introduced the Long Short Multi-Manager Fund, which seeks long-term capital appreciation with the secondary objective of principal preservation. Members of the firm’s hedge fund solutions group and external hedge fund sub-advisors are the managers.

“We believe ‘liquid alternatives’—hedge fund strategies in a mutual fund format—can present attractive solutions for investors who have not been able to access traditional hedge funds as well as for defined contribution plan sponsors seeking to provide their participants with a full range of investment options,” said David Kupperman, Ph.D., managing director of the fund.


Vanguard’s Global Minimum Volatility Fund
Valley Forge, Pa.-based Vanguard’s new Global Minimum Volatility Fund offers two low-cost share classes—Investor Shares and Admiral Shares.
The actively managed equity fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation with lower volatility relative to the global equity markets.

Unlike a traditional active fund that seeks to outperform the market on an absolute basis, this fund is constructed to offer broad market exposure with a lower degree of share price fluctuations. Vanguard expects the fund to appeal to investors seeking to lower the volatility of the equity portion of a well-diversified, balanced portfolio.


AssetMark Introduces CashAdvantage Lending
AssetMark Trust Company’s new service, CashAdvantage Lending, allows advisors to set up an interest-only revolving credit line for clients through the Bancorp Bank. It is intended to make it easy for clients to access cash without disrupting their investment portfolios or triggering tax consequences from selling securities.

“It’s important to have liquidity available when there is an important event such as a wedding, funding college or unexpected circumstances when life happens,” explains Brad Wheeler, president of AssetMark Trust.


Thornburg Launches Two Low-Duration Funds
Santa Fe, N.M.–based Thornburg Investment Management has launched two new bond funds, the Low Duration Income Fund and the Low Duration Municipal Fund. The primary investment goal of both is to produce current income, consistent with preservation of capital.

Brian McMahon, Thornburg CEO and CIO, says low duration funds are less sensitive to interest rate changes. That may mean their price may not be as affected when interest rates rise.

Both funds seek to maintain a portfolio of investments with an average duration of no more than three years.