HOUSTON, Feb. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Salient Partners L.P. (“Salient“) announced today its proposal to acquire Forward Management, LLC (“Forward“), an independent, privately-held asset management firm based in San Francisco, California, and investment advisor to the Forward Funds. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined firm will manage and advise over $27 billion in assets.

Salient and Forward expect the proposed transaction to close in the second quarter of 2015, pending approval by Forward Funds’ shareholders and fulfillment of customary closing conditions. Once completed, the transaction will accelerate Salient’s growth as an industry leader in innovative liquid alternatives strategies, with funds in a variety of nontraditional markets and asset classes, including master limited partnerships (“MLPs“), real estate investment trust (“REIT“) securities, trend following, risk parity and hard-to-access equity and credit markets. The investment strategies will be managed and supported by the combined firm’s more than 250 employees from offices in Houston, San Francisco and New York.

“We are thrilled to unite with Forward in this transformational partnership. Our goal is to help investors focus on what truly matters—cost-effective investment strategies that seek to provide diversification in uncertain times,” said John Blaisdell, chairman and chief executive officer of Salient. “The combined platform will add scale, reach and depth to all areas of our business, helping us support institutional investors and financial advisors nationwide.”

“Salient and Forward have a lot in common—we’re both independently-owned businesses with a focus on innovation in asset management that offer risk-conscious investment tools to address challenges of modern-day markets,” said Alan Reid, chief executive officer of Forward. “We have a mutual respect for the businesses we have built from the ground up, and together we will move to a new stage of development, while preserving the central tenets of what Forward has become.”

Salient’s senior management team will lead the combined company, with John Blaisdell as chairman and chief executive officer and Lee Partridge as chief investment officer. Rob Naka, Forward’s chief operating officer, will hold the same role at the newly combined company.

Both Forward and Salient’s portfolio management teams will report to Lee Partridge. Forward’s investment approach and processes are anticipated to remain unchanged. Forward’s team will continue to operate from its existing San Francisco office.

“At Salient, we believe that focusing on what matters in investing means finding better answers than the conventional wisdom of Wall Street. This focus is even more important in a world of historically low interest rates and flagging global growth,” said Lee Partridge, chief investment officer of Salient. “Finding outstanding portfolio management teams, like those at Forward, who share our values and these beliefs, is a rare opportunity.”

Salient and Forward will combine their complementary mutual fund offerings to provide a diverse suite of innovative asset allocation and alternative strategies designed to allow investors the opportunity to create diversified portfolios or enhance their existing portfolios. Salient plans to add to its institutional product offerings with new private funds and separately managed accounts based on Forward’s investment strategies.

The combined suite of funds will include:

• Global asset allocation, including Salient’s risk parity strategy;
• Real asset investments, including MLPs, REITs and global infrastructure strategies;
• Diversifying alternative investments, including tactical, long/short equity and trend-following strategies;
• Focused equity investments, including international, emerging market and dividend growth strategies; and
• Fixed income and credit investments, including emerging market corporate debt.

Salient and Forward’s shared commitment to investor education and financial advisor support will be reflected in the combined thought leadership platform. Team members will continue to share their market views, insights and investment perspectives through both traditional and social media channels. Both the FWD Thinking blog and Salient’s nationally-recognized Epsilon Theory newsletter will continue to provide insightful and differentiated commentary on pressing issues in the investment world.

About Salient

Salient is an innovative asset management firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, that provides alternative investment strategies to institutional investors and financial advisors. The firm offers a broad selection of equity, fixed income, risk-balancing, asset-allocation, energy and commodity, real estate, hedge fund and private equity strategies in the form of mutual funds, separately managed accounts and private funds. Salient’s strategies aim to eliminate unrewarded risk, reduce investing costs and focus on fundamental drivers of returns. A core element of Salient’s platform is its thought leadership and ongoing education of financial advisors and investors, which the firm provides via weekly market observations, monthly webcasts and its nationally-recognized Epsilon Theory newsletter. For more information about Salient, visit www.salientpartners.com. Follow Salient on LinkedIn or Twitter.

About Forward

The world has changed, leading investors to seek new strategies that better fit an evolving global climate. Forward’s investment solutions are built around the outcomes we believe investors need to be pursuing—non-correlated return, investment income, global exposure and diversification. With a propensity for unbounded thinking, we focus especially on developing innovative alternative strategies that may help investors build all-weather portfolios. An independent, privately held firm founded in 1998, Forward is the advisor to the Forward Funds. As of December 31, 2014, we manage and advise nearly $6 billion in a diverse product set offered to individual investors, financial advisors and institutions. For more information about Forward, visit www.forwardinvesting.com. Follow Forward on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Media Inquiries

Salient:
Catherine Jones
Polisi Jones Communications
Tel: (917) 330-8934 / email: cjones@polisijones.com

Forward:
Victoria Odinotska
Kanter & Co.
Tel: (703) 685-9232 / email: vodinotska@kanterandcompany.com

You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Forward Funds carefully before investing. A prospectus with this and other information may be obtained by calling (800) 999-6809 or by downloading one from www.forwardinvesting.com. It should be read carefully before investing.

You should consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. A fund’s current prospectus contains this and other information about the fund. For Salient mutual funds, a prospectus is available by calling (866) 667-9228, or from your financial professional. For other Salient Funds, you should contact your financial professional. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

RISKS

There are risks involved with investing, including loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results, share prices will fluctuate and you may have a gain or loss when you redeem shares.

Alternative strategies typically are subject to increased risk and loss of principal. Consequently, investments such as mutual funds which focus on alternative strategies are not suitable for all investors.

Asset allocation and diversification do not assure profit or protect against risk.

Master limited partnerships (MLPs) are a type of limited partnership that is publically traded. MLPs have the potential to be highly volatile and MLPs are also subject to liquidity risk, potential conflicts of interest as a result of the MLP ownership structure and the risk of the specific sector in which the MLP is concentrated.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) invests in real estate directly either through properties or mortgages.

Risk parity is a portfolio allocation strategy based on targeting risk levels across various components of an investment portfolio.

Trend following is an investment strategy based on technical analysis of market prices.

The $27 billion pro forma assets under management and advisement noted above reflect the assets at Salient Partners, L.P. and Forward Management, LLC, as of December 31, 2014.

Alan Reid is a registered representative of Forward Securities, LLC.

Forward Funds are distributed by Forward Securities, LLC.

Investment Advisory Services for the Salient mutual funds are offered through Salient Advisors, L.P. and Salient Capital Advisors, LLC, subsidiaries of Salient Partners, L.P. Mutual Funds distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

Not FDIC Insured | No Bank Guarantee | May Lose Value

2015 Salient Partners, L.P. All rights reserved.
2015 Forward Management, LLC. All rights reserved.

FSD001315 022816

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SOURCE Salient Partners L.P.; Forward Management, LLC