Evanston Releases New Registered Fund

July 8, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Evanston Capital Management has released its Evanston Alternative Opportunities Fund.

The alternative investment firm launched the fund on July 1. The Evanston Alternative Opportunities Fund is a closed-end, non-exchange listed investment registered under Investment Company Act of 1940. Shares of the fund, however, are registered under the Securities Act of 1933. The fund is available to U.S. accredited investors, including Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) accounts, and has an initial minimum investment of $50,000. The fund offers Form 1099 tax reporting.

Evanston Capital Management has historically offered private funds-of-hedge-funds available solely to qualified purchasers. The new fund is intended to complement these private vehicles and has a similar strategy to Evanston Capital Management’s flagship fund-of-hedge-funds that was launched in 2002.

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The fund seeks attractive long-term risk adjusted returns and seeks to achieve its objective by investing all its assets in underlying hedge funds, many of which seek to achieve their investment objectives with minimal correlation to traditional equity or fixed-income indices. As of July 1, the fund has exposure to the following strategies: long/short equity, relative value, event driven, and global asset allocation.

“We’ve received many requests over the years for funds accessible to a wider range of investors,” says Adam Blitz, CEO of Evanston Capital Management, located in Evanston, Illinois. “We are very pleased to launch the Evanston Alternative Opportunities Fund and to offer Evanston Capital Management’s first registered version of our fund-of-hedge-fund strategies to accredited investors. As with our private offerings, we will apply our extensive experience in hedge fund selection, portfolio construction, operations and risk management as we strive to realize attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns for the fund’s investors.”

For details about the fund, or to request a prospectus, contact Carl Gargula at 847-328-4961.

More information about Evanston Capital Management can be found at http://www.evanstoncap.com.

Firms Team Up to Launch Retirement Plan Program

July 8, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – American National Bank of Texas (ANB) has teamed up with several firms to offer a retirement plan services solution known as the Select Open Architecture Retirement (SOAR) program.

ANB, a provider of fiduciary and trust services, has partnered with United Retirement Plan Consultants, Aspire Financial Services, IRON Financial, RJ20 and Financial Wellness4Life, with the aim of providing fiduciary protection for plan sponsors and enhanced retirement outcomes for their participants via the SOAR program. The program acts as a simple turnkey platform with low fees, according to ANB. 

“The program is designed to make it easier for plan sponsors to outsource the fiduciary duties they are permitted to by law and help participants to save enough for a dignified retirement,” Jeff Atwell, senior vice president at ANB, tells PLANSPONSOR.

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Atwell, who is based in Fort Worth, Texas, says that under the SOAR program, ANB acts as the ERISA 3(16) named fiduciary, as well as the 402(a) named fiduciary and the 403(a) named discretionary trustee. United Retirement Plan Consultants serves as the third-party administrator (TPA) for SOAR, handling administration and compliance services, while Aspire Financial Services acts as the recordkeeper.

Other SOAR services, such as advice and education, will be handled by IRON Financial, RJ20 and Financial Wellness4Life.

According to Atwell, SOAR can also be customized to meet specific service needs of plan sponsors and participants.

The program is geared to retirement plans with at least $1 million in plan assets, says Atwell.

More information about the SOAR program is available at 855-439-6709 or SalesSupport@UnitedRetirement.com.

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