TCW Offers First Alternative Mutual Fund

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TCW ? Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund Aims to Provide Long-Term Capital Appreciation with Lower Volatility than the S&P 500

Fund Rated Five Stars by Morningstar

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The TCW Group, a global asset management firm, today announced it has partnered with Gargoyle Investment Advisor LLC to offer its first alternative mutual fund, the TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund (TFHIX / TFHVX). In conjunction with the offering of this Fund, TCW has formed TCW Alternative Funds, a new family of alternative mutual funds.

“Alternative mutual funds are one of the fastest growing segments of the mutual fund marketplace. We believe that demand will continue to increase in the coming years as investors seek sources of uncorrelated returns in their investment portfolios”

The TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund, which is advised by TCW and sub-advised by Gargoyle, seeks long-term capital appreciation with lower volatility than a stand-alone stock portfolio. The Fund aims to achieve this outcome through a combination of buying undervalued stocks and selling overpriced index call options. The Fund has a three-year track record1 as a mutual fund and carries a five-star rating from Morningstar within the Long/Short Equity category. Since inception, the TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund (I Share) has provided attractive risk-adjusted results, outperforming the S&P 500 index by 4.6% on a net annualized basis with 8% lower volatility.

“Alternative mutual funds are one of the fastest growing segments of the mutual fund marketplace. We believe that demand will continue to increase in the coming years as investors seek sources of uncorrelated returns in their investment portfolios,” said Jess Ravich, Group Managing Director and Head of Alternative Products at TCW. “TCW is committed to delivering industry-leading investment solutions to our clients, and we are very pleased to partner with Gargoyle given their expertise, track record, and consistent approach to portfolio management.”

The TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund is managed by Gargoyle co-founders and managing partners Joshua B. Parker and Alan L. Salzbank. Both Messrs. Parker and Salzbank have extensive experience in equity and options investing. Earlier in their careers, both were members of and options market-makers on the American Stock Exchange. Mr. Parker holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law. Mr. Salzbank holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Wharton School and an MBA from New York University.

“The Gargoyle team is very excited to be working with TCW, given the firm’s strong reputation in investment management, operational excellence and dedication to delivering high quality alternative products to investors,” said Mr. Parker. “Investors understand the importance of reducing volatility in their portfolios for their long-term investment strategy, and we believe the TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund, with its recognized track record, can serve as an enhancement to an equity allocation for a broad range of investors.”

About The TCW Group

TCW is a leading global asset management firm with a broad range of products across fixed income, equities, emerging markets and alternative investments. With more than four decades of investment experience, TCW today manages approximately $180 billion in client assets. Through MetWest Funds, TCW Funds and TCW Alternative Funds, TCW manages one of the largest mutual fund complexes in the U.S. TCW’s clients include many of the world’s largest corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations, as well as financial advisors and high net worth individuals. For more information, please visit www.tcw.com.

About Gargoyle Investment Advisor LLC

Established in 1988, Gargoyle provides options-based hedged equity investments and options-based institutional hedging services. All of Gargoyle’s managing partners and senior traders began their careers as options market makers on the trading floor of the American Stock Exchange and have maintained a focus of using options to reduce risk and enhance performance of equity investments throughout the life of the firm.

Morningstar proprietary ratings reflect historical risk-adjusted performance as of June 30, 2015. For each fund with at least a 3-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar risk-adjusted return measure that accounts for a variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each 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. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The total number of Long/Short Equity Funds for the 3-year time period was 176. The TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund I & N Share received a rating of 5 stars for the 3-year period. © 2015 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers, may not be copied or distributed, and 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. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Obtain a Prospectus

You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. A Fund’s Prospectus and Summary Prospectus contain this and other information about the Fund. To receive a Prospectus, please call 866-858-4338 or you may download the Prospectus from the Funds’ website at TCW.com. Please read it carefully.

A Word About Risk

Equity investments entail equity risk and price volatility risk. The value of stocks and other equity securities may change based on changes in a company’s financial condition and in overall market and economic conditions. Funds investing in mid-cap companies involve special risks including higher volatility and lower liquidity.

As the writer of an index call option, the Fund forgoes, during the option’s life, the opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of the index covering the call option above the sum of the option premium received and the exercise price of the call option. Since the Fund’s investment strategy does not contemplate investing in or replicating a particular index, the Fund will not profit from increases in market value of a particular index. Therefore, selling index call options also can limit the Fund’s opportunity to profit from an increase in the market value of the Stock Portfolio; however, only to the extent that the Stock Portfolio correlates with the index underlying the call option written by the Fund.

As part of its investment strategy, the Fund sells index call options to hedge the Stock Portfolio. There is the risk that the returns of the Stock Portfolio do not correlate with those of the indexes on which the call options are written. Further, the Sub-Adviser may not correctly assess the degree of correlation between the performance of the basket of indexes used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the equity securities in the Stock Portfolio being hedged. It is also not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against any risk, and hedging entails its own costs.

TCW Alternative Funds are distributed by TCW Funds Distributors.

1 On July 13, 2015, RiverPark/Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund, a series of RiverPark Funds Trust, the predecessor mutual fund, reorganized into the TCW | Gargoyle Hedged Value Fund, a series of TCW Alternative Funds. Performance information prior to July 13, 2015 is that of the institutional class shares of the predecessor mutual fund.

Contacts

Muirfield Partners
Mickey Mandelbaum / Jenn Gill
+1-310-785-0810
[email protected]
[email protected]

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