The team at a Long Island liquid alts shop is transforming a California shop's four-year-old offering into a traditional, open-end mutual fund.

Jerry Szilagyi Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC President, CEO, Co-Founder

This morning, Jerry Szilagyi, CEO of Catalyst Funds [profile], and Patrick Welton, founder and chief investment officer of Welton Investment Partners, unveiled the launch of the Catalyst/Welton Advantage Multi-Strategy Fund. The new mutual fund debuted on July 1 through the conversion of the Welton ESG Advantage Fund LLC.

According to Welton and Szilagyi, this is Welton IP's "first single-advisor mutual fund offering."

The Catalyst/Welton fund is a series of Mutual Fund Series Trust and has, according to Morningstar, about $35 million in AUM. The freshly transformed fund comes in three flavors: A shares (CWEAX), with up to 575 basis points in up-front load, up to 100bps in deferred load, and an expense ratio of 224bps; C shares (CWECX), with an expense ratio of 299bps; and I shares (CWEIX), with an expense ratio of 199bps.

Carmel, California-based Welton IP first launched the predecessor fund on August 31, 2020. When it converted earlier this month, its shares became I shares of the new fund.

Huntington, New York-based Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC serves as investment advisor to the new Catalyst Welton fund, while Welton IP (advisor to the predecessor fund) serves as the new fund's subadvisor. The new fund is powered by Welton IP's Welton Advantage Multi-Strategy, and the fund's portfolio manager is Welton himself, who had also PMed the predecessor fund since inception.

Szilagyi puts the launch of the Catalyst Welton fund in the context of the Catalyst team building "proud relationships with respected, intelligent, and proven managers."

"The Fund's strategy and approach fits well into our lineup and reinforces the philosophy that we can offer investors something that not all advisors can — access to institutional investment managers in the retail space," Szilagyi states. "Similar to other products we offer, we believe the use of multiple non-correlated asset classes in this strategy should lead to an attractive risk/return profile."

Welton describes the launch of the Catalyst Welton fund as a partnership that "further democratizes the alternative investing landscape by providing financial advisors and their clients with a strategy that is highly diversified and seeks to stand up to the current, unpredictable macroeconomic environment."

"The traditional 60/40 portfolio strategy is no longer sufficient for meeting many investors' goalst," Welton states. "Our partnership presents an opportunity for forward-thinking advisors who are looking to build more resilient portfolios while boosting returns, especially during periods of market volatility."

The Catalyst Welton fund's other service providers include: Alt Fund Distributors LLC as distribution agent; Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; MFund Services LLC as provider of a chief compliance officer; Northern Lights Distributors, LLC as distributor and principal underwriter; Thompson Hine LLP as counsel; U.S. Bank National AssociationUltimus Fund Solutions, LLC as administrator, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, shareholder servicing agent, and transfer agent. 

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