Firm aims to bring hedging strategies to masses

Thesis Fund Management LLC, a registered investment adviser started up by a former OppenheimerFunds senior analyst, has launched a mutual fund for retail investors and advisers that will mimic a hedge fund.

The Thesis Flexible Fund is aiming to provide those investors who want a hedge-fund-like investment but also the liquidity of a mutual fund, said Stephen Roseman, chief executive of Thesis and manager of the fund. He was a senior analyst for OppenheimerFunds’ Discovery Fund from 1997 to 2003.

“We are democratizing hedge funds,” Mr. Roseman said

Unlike many long/short mutual funds, the Thesis Flexible Fund (TFLEX) will be actively managed and not based on computer models, he said. The Flexible Fund is the first of a number of mutual funds that the firm plans to launch that will mimic the flexible trading strategies of hedge funds, Mr. Roseman said.

“We want to be to alternatives what [Franklin] Templeton [Investments] is to international,” he said.

Mr. Roseman declined to comment about what other kinds of funds the firm is planning to launch, but said that the Flexible Fund will be the firm’s core offering.

One of the main advantages of the fund is that it can hold as much in cash as the managers consider appropriate, unlike many mutual funds that require managers to have only 5% to 10% in cash at any given time, Mr. Roseman said.

“We can say we would rather sit in cash if we want to,” Mr. Roseman said. “Sometimes in investing, the right thing to do is nothing.”

The fund was launched March 1 but last week became available through The Charles Schwab Corp. and Fidelity Investments, and is expected to soon be available through TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.’s platform.

The minimum investment for the fund is $2,500, with a $1,000 buy-in for qualified plans. The management fee is 2.25%.

E-mail Jessica Toonkel Marquez at [email protected].