One of Richmond’s oldest financial firms has launched two new mutual funds.
On Jan. 1, Davenport & Co. launched its first new mutual funds since 1998.
Known as the Davenport Value & Income Fund and the Davenport Equity Opportunities Fund, each already has just shy of $20 million in assets, according to John Ackerly, a senior vice president at Davenport.
The funds will give clients a chance to get in on the action with a $5,000 minimum investment and get in on the same strategies used in the company’s employee retirement plan. For its troubles, Davenport charges a management fee of 1.31 percent, according to the prospectus.
“With all these strategies, we have started them on our own employees first,” said Ackerly. “We were pleased with their performance.”
Once the firm was confident with the strategies, it launched the new funds, one targeting dividend-paying stocks and the other looking for small to mid-size company stocks.
Davenport, which has been around since 1863, has 400 employees. About 180 of those are the financial advisers who will hit the streets to market the new funds.
Ackerly said the firm has no set asset goal in mind for the new funds. The fund it launched in 1998, the Davenport Core Fund, now has about $140 million in assets.
As for launching funds on the tail end of a recession, the reception thus far has been strong, Ackerly said. “But given what’s happened to the market in the last few years,” he conceded, “it is tough to get people to invest.”
Davenport’s latest funds will also enter the local fray. At least two new funds created by Richmond firms have hit the streets in recent months.
RBS reported in October about the launch of Gibson Volatility Management in Shockhoe Bottom and its plans for a $25 million mutual fund. (You can read about that in an RBS story here.)
And previously in January, local hedge fund Seven Hills Capital Partners launched as part of asset management firm Thompson Davis & Co. Seven Hills at the time had $10 million in assets and set a goal of $350 million.
Read more about Seven Hills here.
But Davenport will feel pressure from more than just those local rivals, Ackerly said.
“There’s competition everywhere,” he said.
Michael Schwartz covers the financial services industry for BizSense. Please send news tips to [email protected].
One of Richmond’s oldest financial firms has launched two new mutual funds.
On Jan. 1, Davenport & Co. launched its first new mutual funds since 1998.
Known as the Davenport Value & Income Fund and the Davenport Equity Opportunities Fund, each already has just shy of $20 million in assets, according to John Ackerly, a senior vice president at Davenport.
The funds will give clients a chance to get in on the action with a $5,000 minimum investment and get in on the same strategies used in the company’s employee retirement plan. For its troubles, Davenport charges a management fee of 1.31 percent, according to the prospectus.
“With all these strategies, we have started them on our own employees first,” said Ackerly. “We were pleased with their performance.”
Once the firm was confident with the strategies, it launched the new funds, one targeting dividend-paying stocks and the other looking for small to mid-size company stocks.
Davenport, which has been around since 1863, has 400 employees. About 180 of those are the financial advisers who will hit the streets to market the new funds.
Ackerly said the firm has no set asset goal in mind for the new funds. The fund it launched in 1998, the Davenport Core Fund, now has about $140 million in assets.
As for launching funds on the tail end of a recession, the reception thus far has been strong, Ackerly said. “But given what’s happened to the market in the last few years,” he conceded, “it is tough to get people to invest.”
Davenport’s latest funds will also enter the local fray. At least two new funds created by Richmond firms have hit the streets in recent months.
RBS reported in October about the launch of Gibson Volatility Management in Shockhoe Bottom and its plans for a $25 million mutual fund. (You can read about that in an RBS story here.)
And previously in January, local hedge fund Seven Hills Capital Partners launched as part of asset management firm Thompson Davis & Co. Seven Hills at the time had $10 million in assets and set a goal of $350 million.
Read more about Seven Hills here.
But Davenport will feel pressure from more than just those local rivals, Ackerly said.
“There’s competition everywhere,” he said.
Michael Schwartz covers the financial services industry for BizSense. Please send news tips to [email protected].
A good rule of thumb is to never invest in a fund with an expense ratio over 1% unless the manager’s last name is Buffett. Oh wait… you can buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) without paying any additional fund expenses.