To launch or not to launch (this year)

If you plan to launch a fund over the next few months, it is probably in your best interest to get it launched prior to year-end. Why is a December 30th launch better than one just 4 days later on January 3rd?

Either start date will get you accurate trailing returns.

But launching a fund this year means you will qualify for your first calendar year return in a tad over 12 months. If you wait until January, it will take you 24 months to earn your first calendar year return because you weren't live during the first few days of the term. The same goes for year-to-date returns.

As a result, you are missing out on opportunities for investors to find your fund. For example, you won't have performance data in those data fields on Morningstar, Lipper, and other databases, as well as in your marketing literature and prospectus.