North Square Fund Wins Industry Award
The North Square Strategic Income Fund was named the "Active Fixed Income Mutual Fund of the Year" at the with.Intelligence Mutual Fund & ETF Awards ceremony on February 11th. The award recognizes the fund's performance in its category.
- The fund is managed by a team of five portfolio managers from sub-advisor Red Cedar Investment Management: John Cassady, David Withrow, Jason Schwartz, Julia Batchenko, and Brandon Bajema. Their investment approach combines top-down macroeconomic analysis with bottom-up security selection to identify opportunities across a wide range of income-producing asset classes. - As of December 31, 2025, the North Square Strategic Income Fund (ADVNX) delivered an 11.20% return for the past year, an annualized return of 8.62% over the last three years, 4.32% over five years, and 4.98% over ten years. - The fund's strategy includes investing in a diversified mix of global assets such as preferred securities, corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed securities, with a focus on high-quality, transparent holdings to manage volatility and downside risk. A key part of their strategy also involves dynamic tail-risk hedging to protect the portfolio from unexpected geopolitical or economic shocks. - With an inception date of December 31, 2012, the fund has grown to approximately $810.96 million in assets under management. - The with.Intelligence awards are judged by an independent panel of more than 20 industry experts, including allocators and consultants, through a rigorous assessment process designed to recognize excellence in the asset management industry. - In a recent shareholder report, the fund's management attributed part of its outperformance to a cautious yet opportunistic approach during market volatility. Specific contributors to performance included long volatility exposure, investments in preferred securities, and security selection in securitized products like commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). - The fund carries a 4-star overall rating from Morningstar out of 334 funds in the Multisector Bond category as of December 31, 2025. For the 5-year and 10-year periods, it received 4-star ratings. - In addition to seeking high current income and long-term capital appreciation, a stated goal of the fund is to have a low correlation to traditional equity and investment-grade fixed-income products to enhance risk-adjusted returns for investors.
