NEW YORK, March 8, 2021 – AXS Investments, a leading alternative investment manager, today announced the acquisition of the AXS Market Neutral Fund (COGIX) to its expanding suite of alternative investment funds designed to open access for all investors to proven strategies previously available to only institutional and ultra-high net worth investors.

Over its nine years in existence, AXS Market Neutral Fund has received numerous industry awards and has been recognized as a top performer among its peers. COGIX was named the nation's Best ‘40 Act Equity Fund at the 2018 HFM U.S. Hedge Fund Performance Awards. Most recently the fund won a BarclayHedge Recognition Award for Excellence in 2020.

“Our acquisition of COGIX could not be more exciting, particularly today as we’re seeing financial advisors look to replace portions of their fixed income, and even cash, allocations with market neutral solutions to improve returns while tempering equity market volatility,” said Greg Bassuk, Chairman and CEO of AXS Investments. “The fund makes a great complement to our line-up of alternatives to help clients diversify and enhance portfolios.”

COGIX joins the AXS lineup at a time when market neutral strategies continue to see strong demand from investors. Asset flows to the category have been positive not only over the longer 3-year period, but also year-to-date in 2021. Demand for strategies like COGIX has been driven by the nature of market neutral investing; namely, that it is a highly useful tool for reducing an investment portfolio's overall risk while preserving return potential.

Market neutral is a form of hedging that aims to generate returns that are independent of market swings and uncorrelated to both stocks and bonds. The AXS Market Neutral Fund seeks positive returns in all environments by buying stocks expected to perform well and short selling stocks expected to underperform, by leveraging its proprietary ROTA/ROME® quantitative methodology used since the fund’s inception to successfully identify companies with high returns on invested capital and trading at attractive valuations.

About AXS Investments

AXS Investments is a leading alternative investment manager providing a diversified family of alternative and sustainable investments for investors seeking alternative sources of growth, income and diversification. The firm empowers investors to diversify their portfolios with investments previously available only to the largest institutional and high net worth investors. The investor-friendly AXS funds are time-tested, liquid, transparent and managed by high pedigreed portfolio managers with long and strong track records. For more information, visit www.axsinvestments.com.

Important Risk Disclosure

There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

The value of the Fund’s assets will fluctuate as the equity market fluctuates, although the beta-adjusted market neutral focus of the Fund should reduce the effect of general market fluctuations on the valuation of the Fund as a whole. Utilization of leverage, such as borrowings and shorting positions, involves certain risks to the Fund’s shareholders, including potential for higher volatility of the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund’s shares and the relatively greater effect of portfolio holdings on the NAV of the shares. The Fund may not always be able to close out a short position on favorable terms. Short sales involve the risk that the Fund will incur a loss by subsequently buying a security at a higher price than the price at which it sold the security short.

There are risks involved with investing including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Diversification does not ensure profits or prevent losses. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the fund before investing. To obtain a prospectus containing this and other important information, please click here to view or download a prospectus online. Read the fund’s prospectus carefully before you invest.

Distributed by IMST Distributors, LLC, which is not affiliated with AXS.