A Midwestern boutique asset manager is rebranding one of its mutual funds and ramping up its marketing efforts.

Robert J. Bacarella Monetta Financial Services Vice President, PM

Bob Bacarella, vice president and PM at Monetta Financial Services [profile], confirms that the Wheaton, Illinois-based shop is renaming the Monetta Young Investor Fund (launched in December 2006) as the Monetta Core Growth Fund (MYIFX). The fund is increasingly being used by financial advisors, Bacarella says, and the "young investor" label threw some of them for a loop.

Monetta continues to send out a quarterly newsletter to help educate younger investors, which is where the fund's old name comes from. And the fund's investment strategy, which involves an indexed core and an actively managed growth stock piece, will remain the same. The old name, Bacarella says, has been "an unnecessary barrier" for some investors.

Meanwhile, marketing is in focus for Monetta.

"One of the things we haven't done well is marketing," Bacarella tells MFWire. "We're trying to increase that."

To that end, Monetta is now working with a marketing and communications agency, the Lowe Group.

Meanwhile, the Monetta is looking to add another analyst. And though they're "always looking to add new funds," don't expect a launch anytime soon.

"At this time we don't have anything in the pipeline," Bacarellla says.

Monetta offers two mutual funds and no SMAs. The firm now has about $185 million in AUM. 

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