There's a new player in the '40 Act space. Chicago-based Performance Trust Investment Advisors, an affiliate of Performance Trust Capital Partners, on Wednesday launched its debut mutual fund, the Performance Trust Total Return Bond Fund (PTIAX). [SEC filing]

The no-load fund comes with an expense ratio of 95 basis points and invests across various sectors of the fixed-income market using a strategy called Shape Management.

In an interview with The MFWire.com, Performance Trust managing director Jeff Smith traced the genesis of the fund to a request from one of the firm's bank clients who had yanked assets from a mutual fund and was searching for a destination for the assets.

"The fund is a direct response to a client request," said Smith, an alum of Fidelity Investments, UBS, State Street Bank and Chase.

To raise assets, Performance Trust is starting with its bank clients, "who know our methodology and trust it," he said.

Down the road, perhaps in a year's time, Performance Trust would consider adding a load version of the fund, Smith added.

Asked what makes Performance Trust's mutual fund different from similar offerings in the market, Smith pointed to the firm's 16 years of experience advising fixed-income investors and its nationally recognized bond methodolgy for selecting investments.

US Bancorp Fund Services serves as the fund's transfer agent, fund accountant and administrator, Quasar Distributors is the distributor, U.S. Bank is the custodian, Godfrey & Kahn serves as legal counsel and Cohen Fund Audit Services serves as the independent registered public accounting firm. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE