On Halloween last week, the mutual fund industry gained a new player. Towle & Co., a deep value specialist based in St. Louis, Missouri, joined the ranks of mutual fund sponsors with the launch of the Towle Deep Value Fund [see prospectus].

Towle has been around since 1981 and manages separate accounts and two limited partnerships.

Joe Bradley, director of marketing, told The MFWire.com that demand from existing and prospective clients drove the firm to deliver its 30-year-old deep value strategy in mutual fund form.

The fund is available in an institutional share class with an expense ratio of 120 basis points. The product is on Pershing's platform, and Towle officials are working to get the fund a spot on Schwab's transaction-fee marketplace.

Towle hired UMB Fund Services as co-administrator, transfer agent and fund accountant, Mutual Fund Administration Corporation as fund co-administrator, Grand Distribution Services as distributor, UMB Bank as custodian and Tait, Weller & Baker LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm. 

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