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Liquid alternatives veteran takes over alternative mutual fund

Friday, October 21, 2016
Opalesque Industry Update - Liquid alternative investment veteran, Dick Pfister, founded AlphaCore Capital to bring alternative investments to private clients in an independent, boutique setting. A year later, the La Jolla-based firm's success and demand from advisors for sub-advisory services have led the firm to take over an alternative mutual fund with a three year five-star Morningstar rating (out of 163 funds in the long/short equity category based on risk adjusted returns for the three year period ending September 30th, 2016).

AlphaCore currently offers its alternative models on the largest independent custodians; separately managed account platforms. The fund, the AlphaCore Absolute Institutional Fund, is another avenue for investors to access AlphaCore's alternatives expertise. AlphaCore will serve as the advisor to the fund, which will be distributed by Northern Lights.

The newly rebranded fund and the other AlphaCore models vary from most of their kind: most multi-alternative mutual funds have a fairly high correlation to stocks and exposure to credit -- thereby diminishing the potential benefit of diversification. The AlphaCore Absolute Institutional Fund (GDAMX) has the potential to provide diversification from traditional stocks and bonds with the specific blend of alternative strategies employed in the AlphaCore model. Dick Pfister leads the AlphaCore Capital team, which has already closed in on $100 million of advisory assets in the past year. By incorporating multi-alternative strategies with traditional beta strategies and sub-advising for other advisors, the AlphaCore team offers a broad variety of solutions that blend alternative strategies with traditional investment portfolios.

AlphaCore Capital represents a different type of philosophy: with access and expertise in alternative investments from a firm built with an open architecture. The firm was launched when its founder, Dick Pfister, was unable to find an advisor that had the resources to put alternative investments at the center of his personal portfolio. Pfister says, "The idea in founding AlphaCore Capital was to combine the independent, boutique model of a family office with the alternative investment resources and expertise often missing from other advisory firms."

Lead Portfolio Manager of the AlphaCore Absolute Institutional Fund, Jonathan Belanger, will be using the AlphaCore Absolute Balanced model inside the recently rebranded fund, allocating to eight to twelve alternative strategies. Belanger says, "The AlphaCore Absolute models were designed to provide advisors with not just another product but also advice about how to allocate alternative strategies, particularly liquid alts."

Before starting AlphaCore Capital, Pfister was a partner at Altegris Investments, helping develop and deliver alternative investment strategies since 2002. In 2010, he was part of the group that sold Altegris Investments to a Fortune 500 company. He is an inaugural member of the Chartered Alternative Investment Association (CAIA) and was also awarded the First Annual Corporate Recognition Award in 2012 for excellence in alternative education.

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