Local Office Blog

Press Release: Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund

SHERWOOD FOREST ALTERNATIVE FUND ACHIEVES STEADY GAINS THROUGH THREE YEARS WITH TREND FOLLOWING STRATEGY RICHMOND, VA. May 1, 2012 – Alternative instruments as portfolio diversifiers are catching on with investors and financial advisors alike. In today’s volatile stock market, they merit attention because they can readily provide ballast in investor’s portfolios and smooth out the ups and downs of market moves. Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund, managed by Sherwood Forest Capital Management, in Richmond, VA., is a true alternative investment. It has provided steady growth for investors through three years of an anemic recovery following the financial crisis. The mutual fund uses a long/short Trend Following-based strategy, which historically was only available through Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and hedge funds. The strategy uses Exchange Traded Funds to access exposure to the market instead of Futures contracts as typically utilized in Managed Futures products that are also Trend Following focused. According to Sherwood Forest, the use of ETFs in lieu of futures aids in transparency and eliminates the need for Cayman Islands’ domiciled futures accounts, in which current Managed Futures Mutual Funds are structured. Such a structure also removes performance based fee structures, which are common in Managed Futures. “We believe the mutual fund offers the same level of service offered for decades by institutional level hedge funds that successfully generated uncorrelated returns for very large investors over the past several years,” said Portfolio Manager Mr. Douglas Stewart. “Our strategy offers the same core Trend Following objective—modifications we believe enhance the strategy while keeping the structure liquid and transparent for retail and institutional investors alike.” The fund, which crossed its three-year threshold in February, has outperformed all its peers in the Morningstar Managed Futures category. The Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund’s performance ranks in the top 1% for the three-year annualized total return period of Morningstar’s Managed Futures Funds as of March 31, 2012. The fund returned an annualized 3.32%, versus the peer group category performance of -3.20% for the same time periods. (Please see disclosures below) “We’re excited about the complimentary effect an allocation into our strategy may provide for investors who are allocating 10-20% of their portfolio into a Trend Following and/or Managed Futures program,” said Mr. Stewart. “The strategy, which is based on the analysis of price, may compliment a portfolio of fundamental long-equity based strategies. “We believe that properly combining the Sherwood Forest strategy with a well-diversified portfolio blend can produce very attractive results as the market moves through the next cycle. Should that cycle be to the downside, it’s a particularly opportune time for Advisors and investors to consider taking steps to secure profits they have generated in the past three years.” About Sherwood Forest: Sherwood Forest is an SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm with $15 million in assets under management. Sherwood Forest offers consultancy and direct investment programs in a managed account structure. We employ investment strategies which seek gains in bull markets and bear markets alike. Our strategy uses price and technical analysis rather than fundamental analysis. We are markedly different than many other investment products due to our lack of directional bias. The flagship investment program, Sherwood Long/Short Program, is an ETF focused strategy that seeks to profit from positive and negative trends in equities, commodities, fixed-income and currency markets. For more information, visit http://sherwoodforest.us. How Sherwood Forest “Follows” Trends; the investment team monitors a basket of 30 to 50 ETFs including inverse ETFs that mainly cover equity based indices and sectors. We monitor these ETFs and watch for price characteristics that reveal trends. These characteristics are based on technical indicators such as Price Channels, Moving Averages, Momentum and Strength indications, and Overbought and Oversold conditions. When an ETF reveals a set of bullish trend indications, we purchase an initial position in that ETF with a pre-assigned stop-loss on the position. We review inverse ETFs in the same way we evaluate normal ETFs, and as a result, we do not have a directional bias. This strategy is designed to capture trends to seek profits in both up and down markets alike. This information does not constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any investment security, nor provide investment advice. Information contained herein may discuss Fund performance and holdings. Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. For performance current to the most recent month-end, please visit our website at www.sherwoodfund.com. Through 3/31/2012, the Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund Institutional Shares had a 1-year return of -7.88%, a 3-year return of +3.32% and an annualized return of +2.48% since inception on 2/12/2009. Total Annual Operating Expense Ratio: Institutional Class, 2.01%.  In the interest of limiting expenses of the Fund, The Adviser has contractually agreed to reduce fees and reimburse expenses in order to keep Net Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 1.65% of the Fund’s Institutional Shares’ average daily net assets until November 30, 2012. If waivers had not been made, returns would have been lower than reported. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses of the Funds before investing. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Funds’ website at www.sherwoodfund.com or calling 800-673-0550. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. There are risks associated with this Fund, such as ETF risks, that may differ from other funds. For a more complete discussion of these risks please refer to the Funds’ prospectus. First Dominion Capital Corp., distributor. Member FINRA.  

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Press Release: “Fixing” Managed Futures Mutual Funds

SHERWOOD FOREST ANNOUNCES “FIX” TO PROBLEMS OF MANAGED FUTURES MUTUAL FUNDS RICHMOND, VA. – May 1, 2012—Investors looking for alternatives to equities and fixed income investments may want to try Managed Futures Mutual Funds. Proponents say the main advantage of Managed Futures Mutual Funds is their low correlation to other traditional investments. They can go long and short in rising or falling markets, and have the potential to improve returns and reduce volatility in a portfolio. Recently, returns on the category have been mixed. But the Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund, managed by Sherwood Forest Capital Management in Richmond, VA., has successfully weathered the financial crisis and aims to continue to deliver positive returns no matter which way the market moves. The fund, which crossed its three-year threshold in February, has outperformed all its peers in the Morningstar Managed Futures category. The Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund’s performance ranks in the top 1% for the three-year annualized total return period of Morningstar’s Managed Futures Funds as of March 31, 2012. The fund returned an annualized 3.32%, versus the peer group category performance of -3.20% for the same time periods. (Please see disclosures below). The Managed Futures Mutual Fund space is made up of fund strategies generally based on the traditional offerings of Commodity Trade Advisors (CTAs) and on a Trend Following or similar strategy. These strategies typically seek to profit from short or long-term trends in various futures categories of Commodities, Equities, Fixed Income, and Currencies. But despite the growing popularity of Managed Futures Mutual Funds, particularly in the last two decades, the stock market’s volatility during and after the financial crisis has tested the mettle of these funds, and their underlying Trend Following strategy in a generally trendless environment. Sherwood Forest’s solution addresses the specific issues surrounding Trend Following programs taking losses during the non-trending period such as 2011. Sherwood’s solution is based on a volatility specific program, which seeks to profit from trends that that are short-term in nature, versus trends which last for weeks or months. “We believe going forward our solution is best suited for a market, which has shown unusual volatility lately,” said Mr. Joseph McDonald, partner and co-portfolio manager of the Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund. “Since Managed Futures are often widely diversified across different asset classes, they’re limited in how much they can participate in each respective trend opportunity borne within the asset class,” explains Mr. McDonald. For example, he says, if a Managed Futures program maintains a 15% allocation to equity related trends, then they will inherently have a limited opportunity to participate in trends in that asset class. As an example, during the period of 1995 to 2000, the S&P 500 returned an annualized 21.34%, versus the Dow Jones Managed Futures Index return of 4.26% for the same time period. “This period represented a time were Trend Following systems faired successfully, revealing strong trends in the equity space,” Mr. McDonald noted. “But this strategy would be somewhat limiting to the typical Managed Futures Mutual Fund, as it would limit their ability to participate in such trends due to a mandated limited allocation.” By contrast, the Sherwood Forest Trend Following strategy addresses this limitation by allowing up to 75% of the program to be allocated to equity related trends. This attribute allows the Sherwood Forest program to concentrate its exposure in the most opportune asset classes, primarily in the equity space, which is trending upward at this point in time compared to fixed income. While Sherwood Forest concentrates primarily in equity related Exchange Traded Funds, significant opportunities arise within sectors and sub-sectors, which have indirect exposure to commodities. As an example, Sherwood Forest will invest in ETFs that focus in Gold Mining stocks, and Energy Sector ETFs, whose returns are heavily influenced by energy based commodities. “We also believe that focusing 75% of the portfolio on equity related ETFs will allow our strategy to be better suited as a hedge to a long-based or fundamental-based portfolio,” Mr. McDonald said. “When the market declines, we can have short and/or inverse ETF exposure, which allows for significant exposure to short-equity returns in a down market.” Meanwhile, he pointed out, a typical Managed Futures program will offer limited exposure to short-based equity futures due to the typical limiting allocation. Even so, Managed Futures overall often provide positive returns in down markets, not only as a result of short exposure to the equity space, but also long and/or short exposure to many other asset classes often covered. In 2008, a period where the S&P 500 Index fell -37%, the Dow Jones Managed Futures Index rose 18.33%, and Sherwood Forest believes that it may be possible to generate even stronger returns in such a period, as a result of their focus on capturing equity based trends on both the long and short side. About Sherwood Forest: Sherwood Forest is an SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm with $15 million in assets under management. Sherwood Forest offers consultancy and direct investment programs in a managed account structure. We employ investment strategies which seek gains in bull markets and bear markets alike. Our strategy uses price and technical analysis rather than fundamental analysis. We are markedly different than many other investment products due to our lack of directional bias. The flagship investment program, Sherwood Long/Short Program, is an ETF focused strategy that seeks to profit from positive and negative trends in equities, commodities, fixed-income and currency markets. For more information, visit http://sherwoodforest.us. How Sherwood Forest “Follows” Trends; the investment team monitors a basket of 30 to 50 ETFs including inverse ETFs that mainly cover equity based indices and sectors. We monitor these ETFs and watch for price characteristics that reveal trends. These characteristics are based on technical indicators such as Price Channels, Moving Averages, Momentum and Strength indications, and Overbought and Oversold conditions. When an ETF reveals a set of bullish trend indications, we purchase an initial position in that ETF with a pre-assigned stop-loss on the position. We review inverse ETFs in the same way we evaluate normal ETFs, and as a result, we do not have a directional bias. This strategy is designed to capture trends to seek profits in both up and down markets alike. This information does not constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any investment security, nor provide investment advice. Information contained herein may discuss Fund performance and holdings. Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost. For performance current to the most recent month-end, please visit our website at www.sherwoodfund.com. Through 3/31/2012, the Sherwood Forest Alternative Fund Institutional Shares had a 1-year return of -7.88%, a 3-year return of +3.32% and an annualized return of +2.48% since inception on 2/12/2009. Total Annual Operating Expense Ratio: Institutional Class, 2.01%.  In the interest of limiting expenses of the Fund, The Adviser has contractually agreed to reduce fees and reimburse expenses in order to keep Net Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 1.65% of the Fund’s Institutional Shares’ average daily net assets until November 30, 2012. If waivers had not been made, returns would have been lower than reported. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses of the Funds before investing. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Funds’ website at www.sherwoodfund.com or calling 800-673-0550. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. There are risks associated with this Fund, such as ETF risks, that may differ from other funds. For a more complete discussion of these risks please refer to the Funds’ prospectus. First Dominion Capital Corp., distributor. Member FINRA.

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