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July 25, 2013 at 03:16 AM
How do you amass $2 billion in assets under management without the benefit of a wholesaling staff?
Simple—partner with the industry’s A-listers. Or more specifically, offer unique strategies with those A-listers, explains Brian Schmucker, CEO of RiverNorth Capital.
“We have relationships with Jeff Gundlach and DoubleLine Capital for our strategic income fund, Manning & Napier for our dividend income fund and now we’ve partnered with Oaktree Capital for our high income fund,” Schmucker proudly states. “Howard Marks, chairman of Oaktree, is a legend on the institutional side, especially in credit, but not all that well known on the retail side.”
That’s something Schmucker hopes will change with the new relationship, which is part of an overall strategy to broaden the firm’s traditional closed-end fund offerings.
“We went outside and recently brought in a team that knows options really well,” he says. “As far as fixed income, volatility is back. People have been busy chasing yield. Now retail investors are getting out of fixed income.”
Said volatility is magnified in the closed-end space. Schmucker notes they were once trading at a premium, but have now “blown out their discount.” He isn’t concerned, adding “we are on the other side of those trades.”
