MutualFundWire.com: Pyxis Taps a Fellow Texan for its Natural Resources Fund
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pyxis Taps a Fellow Texan for its Natural Resources Fund


Pyxis Capital [profile], the Dallas fund firm formerly known as Highland Capital Management, has added a natural resources mutual fund to its product roster.

The Pyxis Natural Resources Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in the Ascendant Natural Resources Master Fund. Houston-based Ascendant Advisors is the manager of the master fund. [prospectus]

"Natural resources is a unique and timely strategy," Don Salvino, managing director and head of distribution for Pyxis' registered products, told MFWire.com, praising Ascendant. "They're a very well-established and positioned firm firm."

The Pyxis fund comes in four share classes. Expense ratios are 247 basis points for A shares, 312 bps for C shares, 262 bps for R shares and 212 bps for Y shares. Salvino confirmed that the new fund its Pyxis' first to be subadvised by Ascendant.

Pyxis has $3 billion of AUM across its 22 funds.
PYXIS CAPITAL LAUNCHES NATURAL RESOURCES FUND
Ascendant Advisors, LLC Will Serve as Advisor

Dallas, TX – March 27, 2012 – Pyxis Capital, L.P. today announced the launch of the Pyxis Natural Resources Fund (ticker: HNRAX). The Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in the Ascendant Natural Resources Master Fund (the "Master Fund"), which will be managed by Ascendant Advisors, LLC ("Ascendant").

The Pyxis Natural Resources Fund, through the Master Fund, invests in equities of natural resources companies and will seek long-term out performance of the S&P North American Natural Resource Sector Index. Unlike other natural resource funds, it will invest in sectors such as timber and agribusiness, which are not included in the traditional natural resource indices. Ascendant brings a unique process to security selection by combining a fundamental bottoms up value approach with a combination of earnings and price momentum to aid in the timing of buying and selling.

"Adding Ascendant's strategy to our platform provides an attractive and timely asset class to our mutual fund offerings," said Joe Dougherty, President of Pyxis Capital. “Their unique approach may help investors and advisors diversify portfolios and potentially employ an inflation hedge via an increasingly important sector."

The Pyxis Natural Resources Fund will benefit from Ascendant's deep experience with its investment committee members averaging over 25 years of experience. The firm’s unique investment philosophy and process, which will be utilized in the Pyxis Natural Resources Fund, has been in place since 1970.

"Inflation has been prevalent in our economy since the creation of the Federal Reserve, abandonment of the gold standard, and the ongoing quantitative easing that began in late 2008," said Todd Smurl, Portfolio Manager of Ascendant's Natural Resources Master Fund. "Our current outlook calls for more of the same, and we view natural resources equities as an attractive hedge in this environment."

About Ascendant Advisors, LLC

Ascendant Advisors, LLC is the investment advisor to the Ascendant Natural Resources, Ascendant Multi Cap Equity, Ascendant Balanced and the Patriot Funds. Founded in 1970, Ascendant Advisors is one of the oldest independent registered investment advisers in Texas, providing active portfolio management to high net worth families and institutions. Ascendant's investment effort is led by a four-member Investment Committee, whose members average over 25 years of first-hand investment experience.

About Pyxis Capital

Pyxis Capital, L.P., headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a SEC-registered investment adviser with approximately $3 billion of assets under management across 22funds. It is one of the one of the most respected and experienced alternative investment managers serving the registered product market. As a manager of managers, Pyxis Capital is dedicated to identifying and retaining best in class asset managers to serve as sub-advisers to its funds. The Pyxis Capital funds complex, which spun off from Highland Capital Management at the beginning of 2012, includes a diverse set of investment strategies—from broad-based equity and fixed income investments to alternative strategies including long/short and trend following as well as alternative credit strategies. For more information, go to www.pyxisais.com.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Pyxis Funds carefully before investing. Please call 1-877-665-1287 or visit www.pyxisais.com for more information on the Funds. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

Securities may be offered through NexBank Securities, Inc., an affiliate of Pyxis Capital, L.P. NexBank Securities, Inc. is a FINRA member firm.



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