The trend recently has been for mutual fund firms to begin eyeing opportunities in the separate account niche. But, in a twist, a high-net-worth and institutional money manager has decided to try and test its mettle in the retail arena.

The newest mutual fund player is Metropolitan West Capital Management, which has unveiled the Intrinsic Value Equity Fund and the International Value Fund, Gary Lisenbee, president at the firm, told the MutualFundWire.com. "We only worked with separately managed funds before for foundations, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals. This is our first foray into the retail side," he stated.

Lisenbee reported that prior to this month a client would have to have at minimum $3 million before investing in one of the firm's offerings. For those interested in investing in the new funds, the minimum is $5,000. "This is a new growth trajectory for the firm, and it represents a shift in our target audience," he explained.

But is the executive concerned about flat growth in the mutual funds over the past couple of years?

"We take a long-term view. We are in this for the long haul, and we recognize that this might take some time. I know there are a lot of funds out there. But we have been managing money for a long time. We have good visibility in the marketplace. We believe that assets will be coming into these funds," Lisenbee answered.

He continued with the assertion that the funds will have a 5 star rating from Morningstar in three years. "We have a strong record with financial advisors from our high-net-worth business. They know our track record, and they know our people. We are confident that we can build on these pre-existing relationships."

The firm's initial marketing strategy will be to get the word out to those advisors about the new products. The firm will also work to get the funds into the fund supermarkets. It will consider additional marketing strategies down the road. Officials at Metropolitan were also exploring additional funds that might be added to the lineup.

Lisenbee co-manages the funds with Howard Gleicher. 

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