Investment Objective
Alpine High Yield Managed Duration Municipal Fund (the “High Yield Municipal Fund”) seeks a high level of current income exempt from federal income tax.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in the Fund’s Class A shares. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.
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Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
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Class A
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Institutional
Class
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Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)
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Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)
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Redemption Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed within less than 60 days of purchase)
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Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of
your investment)
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Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees
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Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements (1)
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements
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(1)
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Alpine Woods Capital Investors, LLC (the “Adviser”) has agreed contractually to waive its fees and/or reimburse expenses of the Fund so that total annual fund operating expenses (including 12b-1 fees, where applicable, but excluding interest, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed annually 1.05% of the average net assets of Class A shares and 0.80% of the average net assets of the Institutional Class shares. This arrangement cannot be terminated prior to February 28, 2015 without the Board of Trustees’ consent.
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursements exceed the expense cap by 0.05% as a result of acquired fund fees and expenses. The Adviser may recapture amounts waived and/or reimbursed to a class if such recapture occurs within three years of the waiver and/or reimbursement and does not cause the total annual fund operating expenses of the Fund for any year to exceed the limits described above.
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Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes:
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You invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods
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Your investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same
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You reinvest all distributions and dividends without a sales charge
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Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the period June 3, 2013 to October 31, 2013, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 117% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the High Yield Municipal Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal obligations that are exempt from federal income tax (including securities subject to the alternative minimum tax ("AMT")).
The Fund may invest, without limitation, in municipal obligations whose interest is a tax-preference item for purposes of the AMT. If this is the case, the Fund’s net return to those investors may be lower than to investors not subject to the AMT. The interest income distributed by the Fund that is derived from certain tax-exempt municipal obligations may be subject to the federal AMT for individuals and corporations. There is no limitation on the portion of the Fund’s assets that may be invested in municipal obligations subject to the AMT. An investor should consult his or her tax adviser for more information.
The Fund has a flexible investment strategy and may invest in obligations of any credit quality and duration. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 50% of its assets in municipal bonds rated BBB or lower by Standard & Poor’s, a subsidiary or The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. or Baa or lower by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., at the time of investment, by independent rating agencies or the unrated equivalent as determined by the Adviser. Split rated bonds will be considered to have the higher credit rating. Municipal bonds rated below investment grade (BB/Ba or lower) are commonly known as “high yield” or “junk” bonds. Municipal bonds in which the Fund may invest include, but are not limited to, general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, private activity bonds, moral obligation bonds, municipal notes, municipal commercial paper, municipal lease obligations and tender option bonds. Revenue obligations may include, but are not limited to, industrial development, pollution control, public utility, housing, and health care issues. Tender option bonds are created when a holder deposits tax-exempt or other bonds into a special purpose trust (“TOB trust”). The TOB trust issues two types of securities: floating rate notes (“floaters” or “TOBs”) and a residual security junior to the floaters (“inverse floaters”). The Fund does not intend to deposit bonds into a TOB trust, but may invest in the variable rate securities issued by TOB trusts.
The Fund seeks to maintain an effective portfolio duration between 2 and 7 years, however, it can buy securities of any maturity. The Adviser expects to increase or decrease the portfolio's effective duration based on its outlook for the market and interest rates. Duration measures the sensitivity of bond prices to changes in interest rates. The longer the duration of a bond, the longer it will take to repay the principal and interest obligations and the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. For example, a three-year duration means a bond is expected to decrease in value by approximately 3% if interest rates rise 1% and increase in value by approximately 3% if interest rates fall 1%. Because of events affecting the bond markets and interest rate changes, the duration of the portfolio might not meet the target at all times.
The Fund can invest up to 25% of its total assets in tobacco-related bonds without an appropriation pledge that makes payments only from a state’s interest in the Master Settlement Agreement.
The Fund may invest in U.S. Treasuries for defensive investment purposes.
The Fund can borrow up to one-third of its assets (including the amount borrowed) from banks. It can use those borrowings for a number of purposes, including for purchasing securities (or leverage), to meet redemption obligations, and for temporary and emergency purposes. However, the Fund does not intend to use leverage more than, in the aggregate, up to 10% of the value of its total assets to increase its holdings of portfolio securities.
In selecting investments for the Fund, the Adviser generally looks for a wide range of U.S. issuers and securities that provide high current income, including unrated bonds and securities of smaller issuers that offer high current income and might be overlooked by other investors and funds. The Adviser also focuses on securities with coupon interest or accretion rates, current market interest rates, callability and call prices that might change the effective maturity of particular securities. The Adviser may consider selling a security if any of these factors no longer applies to a security purchased for the Fund, but are not required to do so. The Adviser may, at its discretion, seek long-term income instead of high current income for defensive investment or other purposes.
The Fund’s 80% investment policy may be changed by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ prior notice to shareholders.
Principal Investment Risks
Risk is inherent in all investing. There is no assurance that the Fund will meet its investment objective. The value of your investment in the Fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the Fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. The Fund may take temporary defensive positions; in such a case, the Fund will not be pursuing its principal investment strategies. The following is a summary description of certain risks of investing in the Fund.
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Borrowing and Leverage Risk —
When the Fund borrows for leverage, changes in the value of the Fund’s investments will have a larger effect on its share price than if it did not borrow. Borrowing results in interest payments to the lenders and related expenses. The costs of borrowing for investment purposes might reduce the Fund’s return if the yield on the securities purchased is less than the borrowing costs.
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Credit Risk —
The credit quality and liquidity of the Fund’s investments in municipal obligations and other debt securities may be dependent in part on the credit quality of third parties, such as banks and other financial institutions, which provide credit and liquidity enhancements to the Fund’s investments. Adverse changes in the credit quality of these third parties could cause losses to the Fund and affect its share price.
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Debt Securities Risk —
Debt securities, such as bonds, involve credit risk and interest rate risk. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will go up or down more in response to changes in interest rates than the market price of shorter term securities.
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Fixed Income Securities Risk —
Fixed income securities are subject to issuer risk, interest rate risk and market risk.
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Interest Rate Risk —
Interest rates may rise resulting in a decrease in the value of the securities held by the Fund, or may fall resulting in an increase in the value of such securities. Securities having longer maturities generally involve a greater risk of fluctuations in the value resulting from changes in interest rates. Securities having shorter maturities generally involve less risk of fluctuations in the value resulting from changes in interest rates, but generally have lower yields than securities having longer maturities. Securities having shorter maturities are also subject to reinvestment risk, which is the risk that if interest rates fall the Fund may need to invest the proceeds of redeemed securities in securities with lower interest rates.
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Issuer Risk —
Changes in the financial condition of the issuer of an obligation, changes in general economic conditions, or changes in economic conditions that affect the issuer may impact its actual or perceived willingness or ability to make timely payments of interest or principal.
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Junk Bond Risk —
Junk bonds involve a greater risk of default or price changes due to changes in the credit quality of the issuer. The values of junk bonds fluctuate more than those of high-quality bonds in response to company, political, regulatory or economic developments. Values of junk bonds can decline significantly over short periods of time.
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Land-Secured or “Dirt” Bonds Risk —
These special assessment or special tax bonds are issued to promote residential, commercial or industrial growth and redevelopment. They are exposed to real estate development-related risks. The bonds could default if the developments failed to progress as anticipated or if taxpayers failed to pay the assessments, fees and taxes specified in the financing plans for a project.
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Liquidity Risk —
Some securities held by the Fund may be difficult to sell, or illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Illiquid securities may also be difficult to value. Markets may become illiquid when, for instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers or sellers or when dealers are unwilling or unable to make a market for certain securities. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid asset to meet redemption requests or other cash needs, the Fund may be forced to sell at a loss.
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Management Risk —
The Adviser’s judgment about the quality, relative yield or value of, or market trends affecting, a particular security or sector, or about interest rates generally, may be incorrect.
The Adviser’s security selections and other investment decisions might produce losses or cause the Fund to underperform when compared to other funds with similar investment goals.
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Market Risk —
General market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets or adverse investor sentiment could cause the value of your investment in the fund, or its yield, to decline.
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Medium- and Lower-Grade Municipal Securities Risk —
Securities which are in the medium- and lower-grade categories generally offer higher yields than are offered by higher-grade securities of similar maturity, but they also generally involve more volatility and greater risks, such as greater credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, management risk, and regulatory risk. Furthermore, many medium- and lower-grade securities are not listed for trading on any national securities exchange and many issuers of medium- and lower-grade securities choose not to have a rating assigned to their obligations by any nationally recognized statistical rating organization.
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Municipal Market Volatility and Illiquidity Risk —
The municipal bond market can be susceptible to unusual volatility, particularly for lower-rated and unrated securities. Liquidity can be reduced unpredictably in response to overall economic conditions or credit tightening. During times of reduced market liquidity, the Fund may not be able to readily sell bonds at the prices at which they are carried on the Fund’s books. If the Fund needed to sell large blocks of bonds to meet shareholder redemption requests or to raise cash, those sales could further reduce the bonds’ prices.
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Municipal Sector Concentration Risk —
From time to time the Fund may invest a substantial amount of its assets in municipal securities whose interest is paid solely from revenues of similar projects. If the Fund concentrates its investments in this manner, it assumes the economic risks relating to such projects and this may have a significant impact on the Fund’s investment performance.
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Municipal Securities Risk —
Municipal securities risks include the ability of the issuer to repay the obligation, the relative lack of information about certain issuers of municipal securities, and the possibility of future legislative changes which could affect the market for and value of municipal securities. Certain municipal securities, including private activity bonds, are not backed by the full faith, credit and taxing power of the issuer. Additionally, if events occur after the security is acquired that impact the security’s tax-exempt status, the Fund and its shareholders could be subject to substantial tax liabilities.
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Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories Risk
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Because the Fund invests in the municipal securities of U.S.
territories, and currently invests in Puerto Rican municipal securities, events in Puerto Rico are likely to affect the Fund’s investments and its performance. These events may include economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, territory constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to Puerto Rico’s municipal issuers. As with Puerto Rican municipal securities, events in any of the other territories where the Fund is invested may affect the Fund’s investments and its performance.
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Tax Risk —
To be tax-exempt, municipal obligations generally must meet certain regulatory requirements. If any such municipal obligation fails to meet these regulatory requirements, the interest received by the Fund from its investment in such obligations and distributed to Fund shareholders will be taxable. There is no guarantee that all of the Fund’s income will remain exempt from federal or state income taxes. Income from municipal bonds held by a Fund could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a bond issuer.
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Tender Option Bonds Risk —
Tender option bonds are synthetic floating-rate or variable-rate securities issued when long-term bonds are purchased in the primary or secondary market and then deposited into a trust. Tender option bonds may be considered derivatives, and may expose the Fund to the same risks as investments in derivatives, as well as risks associated with leverage, especially the risk of increased volatility.
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Tobacco Related Bonds Risk —
In 1998, the largest U.S. tobacco manufacturers reached an out of court agreement, known as the Master Settlement Agreement (the “MSA”), to settle claims against them by 46 states and six other U.S. jurisdictions. The tobacco manufacturers agreed to make annual payments to the government entities in exchange for the release of all litigation claims. A number of the states have sold bonds that are backed by those future payments. The Fund may invest in two types of those bonds: (i) bonds that make payments only from a state’s interest in the MSA and (ii) bonds that make payments from both the MSA revenue and from an “appropriation pledge” by the state. An “appropriation pledge” requires the state to pass a specific periodic appropriation to make the payments and is generally not an unconditional guarantee of payment by a state. The settlement payments are based on factors, including, but not limited to, annual domestic cigarette shipments, cigarette consumption, inflation and the financial capability of participating tobacco companies. Payments could be reduced if consumption decreases, if market share is lost to non-MSA manufacturers, or if there is a negative outcome in litigation regarding the MSA.
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Performance
Once the Fund has a performance record of at least one calendar year, a bar chart and performance table will be included in this Prospectus.
Management
Investment Adviser
Alpine Woods Capital Investors, LLC serves as the Fund’s investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers
The Fund is managed by a team that is primarily responsible for the investment decisions of the Fund and is led by Mr. Steven C. Shachat, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser. Other members of the team are Mr. Mark Taylor, Associate Portfolio Manager and Head of Municipal Research of the Adviser, and Mr. Jonathan Mondillo, Associate Portfolio Manager and Head of Fixed Income Trading of the Adviser. Mr. Shachat, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Mondillo have managed the Fund since its inception.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Class A
You may purchase or redeem Fund shares on any day the NYSE is open by contacting your financial intermediary. The minimum initial amount of investment in the Fund is $2,500. There is no minimum for subsequent investments.
Institutional Class
You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares on any business day by written request via mail (Alpine Funds, c/o Boston Financial Data Services, Inc., PO Box 8061, Boston, MA 02266), by wire transfer, by telephone at 1-888-785-5578, or through a financial intermediary. The minimum initial amount of investment in the Fund is $250,000. There is no minimum for subsequent investments if payment is mailed by check, otherwise the minimum is $100.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to distribute income that is exempt from regular federal income tax. Portions of the Fund’s distributions may be subject to such tax and/or to the federal alternative minimum tax.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial professional or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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