GREENWICH, Conn., June 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wall Street Journal has ranked The BDC Income Fund (the "Fund") as the top performing mutual fund among Financial Services focused funds and #2 within Sector Funds as part of its "Category Kings" monthly mutual fund rankings. The rankings reflect year-to-date total return performance within each category through May 29, 2015.
"Since inception at the end of November 2014, the Fund has demonstrated strong total return performance on both an absolute and relative basis," commented Andrew P. Kerai, Sr., Lead Portfolio Manager for the Fund. "Through the end of May, the Fund generated an excess return of +7.3% since inception compared to its benchmark, a market-cap weighted passive index of publicly-traded BDCs. The Fund's significant outperformance reflects the quality of our investment strategy and active management approach, driven by bottom-up fundamental research and deep sector expertise."
Gregg J. Felton, Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer of the Fund's Advisor, concurs, adding "We expect the deviation of returns across BDC issuers will continue to increase, driven by a number of factors, including credit quality, distribution sustainability, and alignment of management and shareholder interests. As a result, we believe quality active management is a prerequisite to successfully investing in the BDC sector."
Mr. Kerai added: "With a successful first six months since our launch, we are focused on continuing to optimize performance while attracting additional investors to the product. We are currently expanding our universe of brokerage providers which can accept orders for the Fund, and engaging in active dialogue with new investors. We look forward to scaling the Fund over the coming quarters and maintaining a disciplined approach to investing within this sector, with an emphasis on creating an attractive risk-adjusted total return for income-oriented investors over the long term."
The Fund is currently available on a number of brokerage platforms, including Charles Schwab.
About The BDC Income Fund
The BDC Income Fund is an open-end mutual fund which became effective in November 2014. The Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in the equity securities of publicly-traded Business Development Companies (BDCs) and may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in other opportunistic investments, including the debt securities of BDCs and the equity and debt securities of other income-oriented investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Fund is managed by Full Circle Advisors, LLC, and is a series of Forum Funds II, a series trust overseen by Atlantic Fund Services, LLC. For additional information, please visit the Fund's website at www.bdcincomefund.com.
The Fund offers three share classes:
INSTITUTIONAL SHARES (IBDCX)
A SHARES (ABDCX)
C SHARES (NBDCX)
About Full Circle Advisors, LLC
Full Circle Advisors, LLC, based in Greenwich, CT, is a registered investment advisor organized in 2010 with the purpose of providing yield-oriented, current income investment solutions to investors.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which relate to future events or The BDC Income Fund's future performance or financial condition. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "should," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in The BDC Income Fund's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The BDC Income Fund undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made herein.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call 844-786-4178 (toll free) or visit our website at www.bdcincomefund.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is subject to risk, including the possible loss of principal amount invested. The Fund primarily invests in securities issued by publicly-traded BDCs. As a result, the Fund's portfolio may be significantly affected by the performance of the BDCs in which it invests and the performance of the BDCs' portfolio companies, as well as the overall economic environment. The types of portfolio companies in which BDCs invest are generally considered to be non-rated or below investment grade. The revenues, income (or losses) and valuations of these companies can, and often do, fluctuate suddenly and dramatically, and they face considerable risk of loss. BDCs often borrow funds to make investments and, as a result, are exposed to the risks of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential loss on amounts invested and therefore increases the risks associated with an investment in a BDC's securities. Externally-managed BDCs' management fees, which may be substantially higher than the management fees charged to other funds, are normally payable on gross assets, including those assets acquired through the use of leverage. General interest rate fluctuations may have a substantial negative impact on an underlying BDC's investments and investment opportunities and, therefore may have a material adverse effect on the BDC's investment objectives and rate of return on invested capital. Due to original issue discount the BDC may be required to make a distribution to its stockholders in order to satisfy the annual distribution requirement. As a result, the BDC may have difficulty meeting the annual distribution requirement necessary to obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). Portions of the distributions that a BDC makes may represent a return of capital to its underlying investors for tax purposes. A return of capital generally is a return of the investor's investment rather than a return of earnings or gains derived from the BDC's investment activities and will be made after deduction of the fees and expenses payable in connection with the initial offering, including any fees payable to the BDC's manager. The Fund is newly-formed. Accordingly, investors in the Fund bear the risk that the Fund's Adviser may not be successful in implementing the Fund's investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, any of which could result in the Fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and at a time that may not be favorable for all shareholders. Such liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders. The Fund is non-diversified. Performance of a non-diversified fund may be more volatile than performance of a diversified fund.
Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.