A new internationally-focused mutual fund shop with a long term investing perspective launched its first two funds on May 1. Salt Lake City, Utah-based Rondure Global Advisors, was founded by industry veteran Laura Geritz late last year in collaboration with her former colleagues now atGrandeur Peak Global Advisors.

Laura Geritz Rondure Global Advisors CEO

The two funds are Rondure New World Fund and Rondure Overseas Fund. The former focuses on emerging markets, while the latter focuses on developed markets outside the U.S.

Geritz is the CEO and majority stakeholder of the firm and is also the PM of the funds. She has been in the industry for almost 20 years and spent more than half that time covering international and emerging markets.

Considering the global focus of the shop, Geritz wanted to name it "Globe" but later chose "Rondure," which means roundness in French, after her lawyers said the former name was not unique.

Geritz was also the founding PM of the Wasatch Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund. It was during her time at Wasatch that she met PMs like Eric Huefner, who would go on to start Grandeur Peak.

Geritz tells MFWire that after leaving Wasatch last year, she decided to start her own firm to gain more control over things like the fee-structure and build something that investors can hold over a long haul.

“I really wanted to shake up our culture a bit,” Geritz says. “We have a unique compensation structure. At least 25 percent of the compensation received by employees will be deferred into the funds with a five to 10 year lock.”

The percentage of compensation deferred will increase as people move higher up the firm, and at the highest step of the ladder, which is her own position, it is 100 percent, Geritz explains.

“I want to align the interest of people working at the firm with the interest of the clients,” she says. “I don’t get paid unless the clients do well.”

Geritz and her research team of three other analysts handle the investing while Grandeur Peak provides the back office and compliance support.

"She only has to worry about handling the research because we take care of everything else," Huefner, Grandeur Peak president and COO, tells MFWire.

Alps Distributors is the distributor for the funds. The distribution is done by three registered representatives at Grandeur Peak, and Geritz is planning to hire a fourth on the Rondure side. They target financial advisors, institutions, and individual investors.

 

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