Forward Renames Several Funds

Specifically, the San Francisco-based asset management firm says that:

• The Forward Strategic Realty Fund has been renamed the Forward Real Estate Long/Short Fund to better reflect the fund’s portfolio strategy, and
• The Forward Long/Short Credit Analysis Fund is now the Forward Credit Analysis Long/Short Fund, a name more in line with emerging industry conventions.

According to the announcement, Forward now offers five long/short funds, including the Forward Commodity Long/Short Strategy Fund, the Forward Tactical Growth Fund, and the Forward Tactical Enhanced Fund. 

The firm notes that since 2007, Forward has increasingly focused on making alternative strategies available as mutual funds, launching or acquiring a total of nine alternative mutual funds.“Even before the financial crisis, it seemed clear that in a fast-changing world, traditional, long-only stock and bond investing might not be able to continue delivering the returns and the diversification that investors need,” said J. Alan Reid, Forward’s CEO.  “The portfolio construction methods that worked well in the decades of the post-World-War-II boom aren’t working so well anymore.”      

Other Name Changes

Forward also announced two additional name changes. The Forward Frontier MarketStrat Fund has become the Forward Frontier Strategy Fund and the Forward SMIDPlus Fund is now the Forward Extended MarketPlus Fund. 

“We think of our push in alternative mutual funds as a way to advance the democratization of investing,” commented Reid.“For many years, institutions and ultra high net worth individuals were the only ones who had access to hedge-style strategies and long/short approaches. We are proud to be one of the firms that is providing real choice and helping to change all that.”