MutualFundWire.com: A $121B-AUM Firm Debuts Its First Smid Cap Fund

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Thursday, August 25, 2022

A $121B-AUM Firm Debuts Its First Smid Cap Fund

A $121.1-billion-AUM (on a pro forma basis, as of June 30) fund firm's team is rolling out their first even smid cap fund.

William A. "Bill" Hench
First Eagle Invesmtent Management, LLC
Head of Small Cap

Last week, Robert Bruno, head of retail distribution at First Eagle Investments [profile], and Bill Hench, head of the New York City-based firm's small cap team, unveiled the launch of the First Eagle US Smid Cap Opportunity Fund. The fund is a series of First Eagle Funds, and its inception date was August 15.

The new fund comes in three flavors: A shares (FEMAX) for an expense ratio of 120 basis points, plus up to 500 bps in upfront load and up to 100 bps in deferred load; I shares (FESMX) for an expense ratio of 95 bps; and R6 shares (FEXRX), also for 95 bps. All three expense ratios including a 574bps fee waiver promised through February 28, 2024.

First Eagle Investment Management, LLC serves as the new fund's investment advisor. Hench is the fund's lead PM, and Suzanne Franks and Rob Kosowsky are the fund's associate PMs. (That trio joined First Eagle in April 2021 and launched their first First Eagle fund in July 2021. By July 31, 2022, that first fund had grown to $479.1 million in AUM.)

"The Small Cap Opportunity Fund has been well-received by financial professionals and their clients in the short time since its launch," Bruno states. "We're excited to leverage our Small Cap team's time-tested approach to value-oriented investment across a broader opportunity set for investors in pursuit of small and midcap equity exposure through our new US Smid Cap Opportunity Fund."

Hench adds that the the "fundamental investment approach remains the same" in the second fund as in the first.

"The smid cap mandate provides us access to a larger, more liquid investment universe than small caps alone," Hench states. "As a result, we can construct a relatively more concentrated portfolio than one that holds only small caps, and we also are able to maintain exposure to investments that may potentially outgrow the small cap space."

The new fund's other service providers include: SS&C's DST Systems Inc. as transfer agent; FEF Distributors, LLC as distributor; JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as custodian; and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) as independent accounting firm.

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