The Morningstar rated ETF achieves new asset milestone as investors turn attention toward balanced approaches to risk management and market exposure
NEW YORK — (October 20th, 2023) — Toews Agility Shares™ is proud to announce today that its flagship fund, Toews Agility Shares™ Managed Risk ETF (NYSE: MRSK) has crossed a significant milestone, reaching over $100 million in assets. This achievement is a testament to the innovative approach the ETF employs, offering investors a blend of full market exposure and sophisticated risk management to offset the impact of increased volatility on portfolios.
Lending to the fund’s inflows is the appeal of the fund’s balanced risk management approach, which is designed to grant investors access to the full potential of the equity market through equity index futures, while concurrently offering a consistent hedge via its adept options strategy. This ensures that risks are judiciously managed without limiting investors’ ability to realize upside market gains.
Rated four stars by Morningstar, MRSK’s strategy is compared to peer funds in Morningstar’s Option Trading Category* out of 167 open-end funds for the 3-year period ending September 30, 2023 based on risk-adjusted returns. MRSK allows investors to participate in market rallies yet plan for potential contingencies with downside risk mitigation.
“Given markets’ current state, more and more investors are not just seeking growth but also a way to stay invested in all types of markets,” says Phillip Toews, CEO and Co-Portfolio Manager for Toews. “What has made MRSK historically successful is that it doesn’t force investors to compromise. Unlike traditional buffer ETF products that can sideline or limit market opportunities, MRSK enables investors to engage dynamically with the market’s full potential, while simultaneously building in contingency plans for a tailored risk management strategy. It’s this blend of adaptability and preparedness that resonates with today’s discerning investor.”
The current market landscape, marked by significant threats like record global debt and sustained inflation and high interest rates, underscores the necessity of managed risk strategies. Investors are becoming increasingly cognizant of the challenges markets are contending with and as a result, there’s a palpable shift towards solutions that not only offer growth potential but also provide an in-built mechanism to navigate downturns. MRSK’s asset growth is a clear indication that informed investors are actively seeking such innovative strategies.
To meet growing demand in line with asset growth, Toews Agility Shares’ dual fund offerings, both Toews Agility Shares™ Managed Risk ETF (NYSE: MRSK) and Toews Agility Shares Dynamic Tactical Income ETF (NYSE: THY) are now available to financial advisors and investors through the LPL platform.
To learn more about Toews Agility Shares™, please visit www.toewsetfs.com.
| Trailing Returns | QTD Cumulative |
YTD Cumulative |
1 Year Annualized |
3 Year Annualized |
Since Inception 6/24/2020 Annualized |
| Toews Agility Managed Risk ETF – NAV Performance | -4.1% | 8.5% | 10.4% | 7.1% | 9.5% |
| Toews Agility Managed Risk ETF – Market Price | -4.1% | 8.6% | 10.4% | 7.2% | 9.5% |
| CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite BXM PR USD | -2.8% | 7.3% | 14.6% | 7.2% | 9.2% |
| US Fund Options Trading Category | -1.6% | 9.6% | 15.1% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| S&P 500 TR USD Index | -3.3% | 13.1% | 21.6% | 10.2% | 12.3% |
The Market Price represents the Fund’s closing market price through September 30, 2023.
The performance data quoted here represents past performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted above. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please review the Fund’s prospectus for more detail on the expense waiver. Without these waivers, the Fund’s total annual operating expenses would be 1.34%. The Fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund, at least until August 31, 2024, to ensure that the net annual Fund operating expenses will not exceed 0.95%, subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years. Results shown reflect the waiver, without which the results could have been lower. A fund’s performance, especially for very short periods of time, should not be the sole factor in making your investment decisions. For performance information current to the most recent month-end, please call toll-free 877-558-6397.
Investors cannot directly invest in an index and unmanaged index returns do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges.
About Toews Agility Shares™
Toews Agility Shares™ provides risk-managed strategies within actively managed exchange-traded funds for investors. It strives to offer efficiency, tradability and transparency. Toews Agility Shares™ is powered by Toews’ research, innovation and expertise in working with investors since 1994.
For more information, please visit www.toewsetfs.com.
About Toews Asset Management
Toews Asset Management is an SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 1994. Most investors hope to avoid losses and realize growth. Toews builds portfolios that primarily seek to reduce risk of loss in crisis environments, as well as attempt to participate in market gains. Our process is not based on subjective or predictive methodology. It has used a heavily researched and price-reactive algorithm since 1996 that provides a signal for investment exit and re-entry points.
For more information, visit www.toewscorp.com
Media Contact
Klaudia Wierzbowska
Gregory FCA for Toews Agility Shares™
Email: klaudia@gregoryfca.com
Phone: 570-856-1360
Important Risk Information
The Fund’s use of futures contracts involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include leverage risk and correlation or tracking risk. Because futures require only a small initial investment in the form of a deposit or margin, they involve a high degree of leverage. The fund may have options risk. Options are subject to changes in the underlying securities or index of securities on which such instruments are based. The fund may invest in ETF’s. ETFs are subject to investment advisory fees and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in ETF’s and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in securities. There is equity risk, as the price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company’s financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably.
ETF’s involve risk including possible loss of principal. An investor should consider the ETF’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. This and other information about the ETF is contained in the prospectus, which can be obtained by calling 877-558-6397. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. The Toews Funds Agility Shares ETFs are distributed by Northern Lights Distributors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Toews Corporation is not affiliated with Northern Lights, LLC. 2186-NLD-10242023
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product 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. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
© 2023 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: 1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; 2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) 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.
*Options Trading Morningstar Category use a variety of options trades, including put writing, options spreads, options-based hedged equity, and collar strategies, among others. In addition, strategies in this group that engage in option writing may seek to generate a portion of their returns, either indirectly or directly, from the volatility risk premium associated with options trading strategies. Funds in the category will typically have beta values to relevant benchmarks of less than 0.6.
The S&P 500 TR USD Index measures the performance of 500 widely held stocks in the US equity market. Standard and Poor chooses member companies for the index based on market size, liquidity and industry group representation. Included are the stocks of industrial, financial, utility, and transportation companies. Since mid-1989, this composition has been more flexible and the number of issues in each sector has varied. It is market capitalization weighted.
The CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite BXM PR USD Index measures the performance of a portfolio that engages in a buy-write strategy using S&P 500 index call options. It is a passive total return index based on selling the near-term, near-the-money S&P 500 Index (SPX) call option against the S&P 500 stock index portfolio each month. The SPX call that is sold (or written) will have approximately one month remaining to expiration, with an exercise price just above the prevailing index level (i.e., slightly out of the money). The premium collected from the sale of the call is added to the portfolio’s total value. The SPX call is held until its expiration, at which time a new one-month, near-the-money call is written. The expired option, if exercised, is settled in cash.
Beta: measure of systematic risk, or sensitivity of a manager to movements in the benchmark.
5965881_123123 MK ETF
Currently ranked four stars https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/bats/mrsk/performance