RED BANK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WBI Investments today announced that the WBI Bull|Bear Trend Switch US 1000 separately managed account has been recognized with a 5-star Morningstar Rating™ for the 10-year period ending June 30, 2020 out of 124 funds in the Tactical Allocation Category. According to Morningstar, the top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars.
“With so much uncertainty in markets earlier this year, many investors were looking for a financial bunker to hide in. But as markets begin to rise, investor FOMO or ‘fear of missing out’ has everyone craving that return,” said Matt Schreiber, Co-CEO of WBI Investments. “We believe it’s time for a switch into WBI’s Trend Switch US 1000 product that was positioned conservatively in US short-term treasuries leading up to the ‘coronacrash’ allowing the strategy to protect capital. In early June our signals switched to put risk back on and the strategy has moved to large-cap equities in an effort to capture the rebounding return.”
Since 1992, the Bull|Bear Trend Switch 1000 separately managed account, designed to alternate or switch between a risk on (equities) or risk off (short-term treasuries) positions, has helped investors navigate the roller coaster of market gains and losses. The model signals that dictate the holdings are based on macroeconomic factors, corporate fundamentals, technical indicators and price momentum. The goal of the strategy is to avoid periods of high risk in equities but participate in market rallies when risk is low.
The Bull|Bear Trend Switch 1000 SMA detected outsized risk in the markets since August 27, 2018 and took a defensive position in Treasuries. During the first quarter of 2020, the strategy was down 0.4% versus the Russell 1000 Index return of -20.2%. The strategy remained in a defensive position until June 8, 2020 when WBI’s proprietary trend signals indicated the strategy should assume a risk on position and move to equities. Since its inception in 1992, the Bull|Bear Trend Switch 1000 SMA has produced an annualized return of 5.75%, net of fee, versus 9.79% of the Russell 1000 Index. Over the same period Trend Switch 1000 had a beta of 0.56 and a down capture ratio of 58.38%.
“While the strategy has not outperformed the Russell 1000 Index since inception, it was able to take half the risk and generated more than half the return,” added Schreiber. “We believe it was a nice alternative to being overallocated with too much risk, or under-allocated in highly conservative investments. The strategy has allowed investors to move fluidly from risk on to risk off, generate attractive returns, and experience less volatility over time.”
The WBI Bull|Bear Trend Switch US 1000 SMA received a 4-star Morningstar Rating™ overall for the period ending June 30, 2020 out of 310 funds.
About WBI
WBI Investments is a privately-owned investment management firm located in Red Bank, New Jersey. For over three decades, WBI’s goal has been to help investors achieve their retirement goals by aiming to reduce risk to capital and produce attractive returns so they can stay comfortably invested.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Past performance does not guarantee future results. This is not an offer to buy or sell any security. No security or strategy, including those referred to directly or indirectly, is suitable for all accounts or profitable all of the time and there is always the possibility of loss. You should not assume that any discussion or information provided here serves as a substitute for personalized investment advice from WBI or any other investment professional. If you have questions regarding the applicability of specific issues discussed to your individual situation, please consult with WBI or your chosen professional advisor. This information is compiled from sources believed to be reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. WBI’s advisory operations, services, and fees are in the Form ADV, available upon request.
Market conditions may call for the strategy to remain in any of the possible exposure allocations for an extended period of time. At times, market conditions and the particular Portfolio Strategy, may call for an allocation of 100% to cash or cash equivalents. If the portfolio strategy invests all or a substantial portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents for extended periods of time, including when it is investing for temporary defensive purposes, it could reduce the strategy’s potential return as the limited returns of cash or cash equivalents may lag other investment instruments in a strong market.
Net of Fee Performance is net of the maximum WBI investment management fee and includes reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. WBI uses a model fee approach which consists of netting down 100 bps from gross returns on a monthly basis.
Other strategies may have different results.
Russell 1000 TR Index: measures the performance of 1,000 largest U.S. companies where dividends are reinvested automatically. Down Capture Ratio: used to evaluate how well a manager performed relative to an index during periods when the index is down.
© 2020 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life sub-accounts, exchange-traded funds, closed- end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. WBI Bull|Bear Trend Switch US 1000 was rated against the following numbers of Tactical Allocation funds over the following time periods: 310 funds in the last three years, 248 funds in the last five years, and 124 funds in the last 10 years. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Fees for separate accounts can vary widely and are negotiated between the asset manager, the separate account program sponsor or advisor, and the investor. Morningstar has chosen to present gross-of-fees performance (before fees have been taken out) to compare separate accounts. Net-of-fees calculations often deduct the highest theoretical fees that an investor may pay.
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