AXS News

AXS Multi-Strategy Alternatives Fund (KCMTX) Ranks 1% Among Multistrategy Funds

5-Star rated core liquid alternative strategy earns top rank for 5-year and 10-year periods

NEW YORK, May 6, 2021 – AXS Investments, a leading alternative investment manager, today announced that its AXS Multi-Strategy Alternatives Fund (KCMTX) ranked in the 1st percentile in the Morningstar Multistrategy category for the 1-, 5- and 10-year periods ended April 30, 2021, out of 152, 104 and 30 funds in the multistrategy category, respectively.

KCMTX and KCMIX both received 5 stars overall and in the 5-year (out of 104 funds) and 10-year (out of 30 funds) periods, based on risk-adjusted returns as of 4/30/2021. For the 3-year period, KCMTX and KCMIX received 4 and 5 stars, respectively (out of 104 funds).

AXS Multi-Strategy Alternatives Fund caters to investors seeking the ability to participate in the potential for equity market upside, while actively managing downside risk. The Fund is an equity-focused macro fund that has benefited investors by virtue of its unique flexibility to invest globally and tactically, including long/short, across all asset classes. The Fund focuses on long-term growth of capital while seeking to manage volatility and market risk.

“The 1% ranking underscores the strength and resiliency of KCMTX’s 12-year, time-tested approach to investing in multiple alternative strategies through a single liquid mutual fund,” said Greg Bassuk, Chairman and CEO of AXS Investments. “The fund offers a powerful core alternative holding or complement that we believe could enhance virtually any portfolio, and we’re proud to create access to a strategy proven over many market cycles, especially through the last year’s pandemic-induced turbulence.”

KCMTX, the Fund’s retail share class launched in August 2008, returned 37.09% for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2021, capping off a strong year despite 2020’s volatility. Among its distinctions, it won the Lipper Fund Award for Best Alternative Global Macro Fund over five years in 2018 and 2019 (out of 208 eligible share classes as of 11/30/17 and 198 eligible share classes as of 11/30/18).

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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.

About Morningstar Ratings

The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics.

The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Morningstar Rating is for the I share classes; other classes may have different performance characteristics.

© 2021 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Ratings, rankings and awards should not be used as the sole basis for evaluating a fund. For the most recent performance, please click here.

About Lipper Fund Awards

The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards are granted to funds and fund management firms in 20 countries worldwide for their consistently strong risk-adjusted three-, five- and 10-year performance relative to their peers, based on Lipper’s proprietary performance-based methodology. For more information, visit www.lipperfundawards.com.

Important Risk Disclosure

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

The Fund may invest in small, less well-known companies, which may be subject to more erratic market movements than large cap stocks; foreign securities, which are subject to currency fluctuations and political uncertainty; and derivative securities, which may carry market, credit and liquidity risks. The Fund may also engage in short selling activities, which are more risky than long positions because the potential loss on a short sale is unlimited. The Fund may use leveraging and/or hedging techniques that could fail if changes in the value of the derivative do not correlate with the securities being hedged. These risks may result in greater share price volatility.

Risks of futures contracts may arise from an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the instruments and the price of the underlying securities. The Fund’s use of futures contracts exposes the Fund to leverage risk because of small margin requirements relative to futures contract value. Swap transactions may alter the Fund’s exposure to long-term or short-term interest rates, foreign currency values, corporate borrowing rates, or other factors such as security prices or inflation rates and also may alter the Fund’s volatility. Selling covered calls limits the upside potential of the underlying security. Selling put options may require the Fund to purchase the underlying securities during periods of declining prices. Premiums paid to purchase options lose value over time and may be lost entirely, if the option expires before it is feasible to be exercised. The protection from selling puts is limited to the strike price minus the premium paid. Investing in REITs involves risks similar to those associated with investing in small capitalization companies. Generally, fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund to greater volatility.

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.

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