We manage nearly $300 million with DIVI representing $7 mil of that. Over the collective 30 years that we have managed our high conviction stock portfolio (Pure), High Dividend Equity, and Global Tactical ETFs the average AUM weighted alpha has been in the 6% neighborhood.

DIVI was caught in the worst dividend inversion in 20 years in 2015 (low dividend stocks outperforming high dividend stocks). So far this year it is the top performing fund out of the 1,183 funds in its Morningstar peer group, beginning the recovery from this inversion with a 14% YTD return.

But the point is our equity portfolios experience considerable tracking error and we are proud of that since that is what produces long-term success.

By focusing on the performance of a single fund over a short time you highlight the very problem plaguing the industry. Do you really focus on short-term performance in making your investment decisions? If you do then you will underperform over the long run since you will very likely gravitate to closet indexers.

Research shows a fund that consistently pursues a narrowly defined strategy, takes high conviction positions, and experiences considerable tracking error outperforms over the long-run. Often the benefits of such an approach show up after 5 years and are well established by 10 years.