Thrasher, a Fund Launched for Hipsters, by Hipsters
By BankersBall on Nov 26, 2007 in Cube Life, Dretthin for Succeth, Entrepreneurs, Exit Strategy
What happens when you take Wall Street and cross it with Williamsburg? Probably something along the lines of GendeX, a fund for Gen X hipsters, brought to you from Thrasher Funds. “Cause making money never goes out of style”… (word)
As you might be aware, the world of mutual funds isn’t exactly the most glamorous gig. But one Wall Streeter is taking an unusual tack to selling MONEY!!! (really hard sell) to hipsters and others of the Gen X/Gen Y clan, reports the NY Post.
That man is ex-Ziff Brothers Investments analyst James C. Perkins, Jr, the founder of Thrasher Capital Management, (the adviser to the Thrasher Funds). Prior to ZBI, which appears to be the investment vehicle of the Ziff family (of the Ziff-Davis publishing fortune) (see on Forbes), Perkins Jr worked at Alliance Capital and in equity research at Morgan Stanley.
Hipsters are the target demo for the fund, and not surprisingly, portfolio holdings include Google, Apple, Gucci, Nordstrom and American Apparel. Entertaining is Thrasher TV, with Perkins Jr explaining what stocks are positioned by the Astor Place cube, decked out with white special order Rayban wayfarers. So hip.
But beyond the hot-pink hype and the thrasher myspace page, the fund’s management (that includes all of Perkins Jr), is touting the Demographic Convergence Thesis, defined as follows:
“The investment thesis that believes that there are specific companies and industries that are taking advantage of the convergence between Generation X and Y’s newfound spending power and trend setting and the Baby Boomers’ desire to stay young forever and use their spending power to emulate the trends of the younger generations. This convergence is seen most prominently in the retail sector but the thesis can be used to find generationally relevant investments across all industries.”
More on their investment strategy:
“Investments in the GendeX Fund are not limited by industry, sector, or market capitalization and is not a retail fund. The firm utilizes both fundamental and technical analysis in generating its portfolio. The Gendex Fund’s performance is benchmarked against the S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Russell 2000 Index … The GendeX Fund is constructed from Thrasher’s proprietary “X&Y 400″, which consists of over 400 stocks hand selected by Thrasher’s Investment Management Committee intended to represent the companies that have biggest impacts on the Demographic Convergence Thesis and represent good candidates for capital appreciation and preservation. The unifying element of each investment, however, is that they all have either a direct or pedagogical nexus to what we term the “Next Investor”, the millions in Generations X, Y and beyond whose everyday lifestyles effect what happen in the markets … Thrasher’s investments are not generated from random screenings of metrics, but rather, hand selected from the inspiration of invest-able themes guided by the contours of the Demographic Convergence Thesis.”
Want to know more? They’re having a party on Tuesday night that seems open to the public.
Investment fees are a bit on the steep side, with a 1.5% (capped) total expense ratio. Accounts under $2,500 come with a $2/mo maintenance fee. Investment mins are $100 with enrollment in an automatic investment plan, or $2,500 if not in an AIP plan. Redemption fees are 2% within the first year.


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