0001314414 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 0001314414 cik0001314414:S000031648Member 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 0001314414 cik0001314414:S000031648Member cik0001314414:C000098470Member 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 0001314414 cik0001314414:S000031648Member cik0001314414:C000098471Member 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 0001314414 cik0001314414:S000031648Member cik0001314414:C000098472Member 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 xbrli:pure iso4217:USD Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund. The Fund's advisor has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund, until at least July 31, 2013, to ensure that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement (exclusive of any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, indirect expenses, expenses of other investment companies in which the Fund may invest, or extraordinary expenses such as litigation) will not exceed 2.20%, 2.95% and 1.95% of the daily average net assets attributable to each of the Class A, Class C and Class I shares, respectively. Waivers and expense payments may be recouped by the advisor from the Fund, to the extent that overall expenses fall below the foregoing expense limits, within three years of when the amounts were waived or recouped. This agreement may be terminated only by the Fund's Board of Trustees, on 60 days written notice to the advisor. Northern Lights Fund Trust 485BPOS false 0001314414 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 2012-11-06 Diversified Risk Parity Fund 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 may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund 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 most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover was 600% of the average value of its portfolio. 6.00 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. 797 1360 1948 3533 310 1238 2174 4555 210 947 1707 3705 ~ http://nlft.com/20121106/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposed20003 column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact cik0001314414_S000031648Member column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~ The Example assumes that 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. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be: Investment Objective: The Fund seeks to achieve capital appreciation that approximates the risk and return patterns of a diversified global hedge fund of funds strategy. Fees and Expenses of the Fund: This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.  You may qualify for sales charge discounts on purchases of Class A shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in the Fund.  More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in How to Purchase Shares on page 18 of the Fund's Prospectus.   0.0575 0.0000 0.0000 0.0100 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 0.0025 0.0100 0.0000 0.0088 0.0181 0.0181 0.0012 0.0012 0.0012 0.0285 0.0453 0.0353 -0.0053 -0.0146 -0.0146 0.0232 0.0307 0.0207 ~ http://nlft.com/20121106/role/ScheduleShareholderFees20001 column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact cik0001314414_S000031648Member column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~ ~ http://nlft.com/20121106/role/ScheduleOperatingExpenses20002 column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact cik0001314414_S000031648Member column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~ 2013-07-31 You may qualify for sales charge discounts on purchases of Class A shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in the Fund. Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 25000 Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund. Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Principal Investment Strategies: The Fund's advisor seeks to achieve the Fund's investment objective by investing, long or short, across a broad array of § traditional asset classes, § alternative asset classes and § derivatives selected using the advisor's proprietary "Diversified Risk Parity" strategy.   Traditional asset classes include: (1) common and preferred stocks of US and foreign issuers of any capitalization or currency; (2) fixed income securities of US and foreign issuers of any maturity, currency or credit quality including high yield or junk bonds; and (3) exchange traded-notes ("ETNs"), exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), open-end investment companies (mutual funds) and closed-end funds that primarily invest in stocks and fixed income securities ("Traditional Underlying Funds").  Traditional Underlying Funds are purchased without restriction as to issuer capitalization, country, credit quality (including securities rated below BBB- by Standard and Poor's Ratings Group or equivalently by another rating agency, which are commonly known as "junk bonds") or currency. Alternative asset classes include: (1) limited partnerships, (2) limited liability companies, (3) master limited partnerships ("MLPs"), and (4) ETNs, ETFs, mutual funds and closed-end funds (collectively "Alternative Underlying Funds") that each primarily invest in (i) commodities, (ii) currencies, (iii) real estate, (iv) financial indices, or (iv) MLPs that employ specialized strategies such as merger arbitrage, fixed income arbitrage, market neutral or global macro trend-following.  Alternative Underlying Funds are purchased without restriction as to issuer capitalization, country, credit quality or currency. Derivatives used by the Fund include: exchange-traded or over-the-counter (1) options, (2) futures contracts, (3) forward contracts and (4) swaps on (i) commodities, (ii) financial indices and instruments, (iii) foreign currencies, or (iv) equity indices.  The Fund uses options, forwards and futures as substitutes for securities, to generate capital gains and/or to hedge portfolio risk.  The Fund uses swaps to generate returns substantially similar to the price changes in commodities, financial indices, instruments, foreign currencies or equity indices to which they are linked. Investment In Subsidiary:  The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”), which has the same investment objective as the Fund.  The Subsidiary will invest primarily (long and short) in commodity and financial futures, option and swap contracts, as well as fixed income securities and other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary’s derivative positions.  By investing in commodities indirectly through the Subsidiary, the Fund will obtain exposure to the commodities markets within the federal tax requirements that apply to the Fund. The Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund. Diversified Risk Parity Strategy The Fund seeks to achieve superior risk adjusted returns by employing investment strategies designed to produce returns that are similar to those found within a diversified global hedge fund of funds strategy.  In part, the Diversified Risk Parity Strategy ("DRP" or the "Strategy") seeks to produce returns that are similar to those of the HFRI Fund of Hedge Funds Index ("Index").  Maintained by the Hedge Fund Research Group, the Index is designed to be generally representative of U.S. dollar denominated hedge fund of funds with assets of at least $50 million.  However, the Fund is not an index fund. Within that framework DRP seeks risk factor neutrality within three major risk factors.  These are: economic growth, inflation and volatility of returns.  In an effort to move the Fund towards neutrality, the advisor feels it is important to shift the risk exposure of DRP away from areas where general hedge fund allocations create large exposures to certain economic factors.  This risk can then be re-allocated into those environments where the Fund lacks material exposure.  The advisor believes that an investment in the Fund can make a material improvement in the overall return characteristics of an investment portfolio while also providing daily liquidity to the investor.  By constructing a diversified portfolio of investments in sectors that are not highly correlated to each other or the equity market in general, the advisor believes the Fund can achieve capital appreciation with lower volatility than broad equity markets.   The advisor actively manages investments for the Fund using risk management strategies which employ both fundamental and technical analysis.  The advisor buys investments that it believes are undervalued and sells them when it believes they have reached their target price or more attractive investments are available.  The advisor takes short positions that it believes are overvalued and covers (buys back) these positions when it believes they have reached their target price.  The advisor also buys and sells securities to maintain allocations as dictated by the Strategy and to manage risk.  The advisor may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio securities and derivatives to achieve the Fund's investment objectives. Principal Investment Risks: As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Many factors affect the Fund's net asset value and performance.   The following risks apply to the Fund's direct investment in securities and derivatives as well as the Fund's indirect risks through investing in Underlying Funds. · Alternative Underlying Funds Risk.  These funds are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund.  As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in Alternative Underlying Funds and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in stocks and bonds.  Each Alternative Underlying Fund is subject to specific risks, depending on its investments, which may include leverage risk, default risk and derivative risk. · Commodity Risk.  Investing in the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.  Commodity prices may be influenced by unfavorable weather, animal and plant disease, geologic and environmental factors as well as changes in government regulation such as tariffs, embargoes or burdensome production rules and restrictions.   · Credit Risk.  There is a risk that issuers and counterparties will not make payments on securities and other investments held by the Fund, resulting in losses to the Fund.  In addition, the credit quality of securities held by the Fund may be lowered if an issuer's financial condition changes.  These risks are more pronounce for securities with lower credit quality such as junk bonds. · Derivatives Risk.  The Fund's use of derivative instruments, including swaps or structured notes, involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities including leverage risk, tracking risk and counterparty default risk.  Purchased options may expire worthless and written options expose the fund to potentially significant liability. · Emerging Market Risk.  In addition to the risks generally associated with investing in securities of foreign companies, countries with emerging markets also may have relatively unstable governments, social and legal systems that do not protect shareholders, economies based on only a few industries, and securities markets that trade a small number of issues. · Fixed Income Risk.  Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of fixed income securities.  The value of fixed income securities typically falls when an issuer's credit quality declines and may even become worthless if an issuer defaults. · Foreign Currency Risk.  Foreign securities denominated in non-US dollar currencies will subject the Fund to currency trading risks that include market risk and country risk.  Market risk results from adverse changes in exchange rates.  Country risk arises because a government may interfere with transactions in its currency. · Foreign Investment Risk.  Foreign investing involves risks not typically associated with U.S. investments, including adverse fluctuations in foreign currency values, adverse political, social and economic developments, less liquidity, greater volatility, political instability and differing auditing and legal standards.   · Issuer-Specific Risk.  The value of a specific security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market as a whole.   · Limited History of Operations.  The Fund has a limited history of operation.  In addition, the advisor has not previously managed a mutual fund. · Management Risk. The advisor's reliance on its Strategy and its judgments about the potential appreciation of a particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect.   · Market Risk.  Overall financial market risk may affect the value of individual instruments in which the Fund invests.  Factors such as domestic and foreign economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels, and political events affect the securities markets.  When the value of the Fund's investments goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value and you could lose money. · Real Estate Risk.  Real estate values rise and fall in response to a variety of factors, including local, regional and national economic conditions, interest rates and tax considerations.  A real estate investment trust's ("REIT") performance depends on the types and locations of the rental properties it owns and on how well it manages those properties.   · Short Position Risk.  The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the short position instrument increases in value between the date of the short position sale and the date on which the Fund purchases an offsetting position.  The Fund's losses are potentially unlimited in a short position transaction. · Small and Medium Capitalization Stock Risk. Stocks of small and medium capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than those of larger, more established companies or the market averages in general. · Taxation Risk:  By investing in commodities indirectly through the Subsidiary, the Fund will obtain exposure to the commodities markets within the federal tax requirements that apply to the Fund.  However, because the Subsidiary is a controlled foreign corporation, any income received from its investments in the Underlying Funds will be passed through to the Fund as ordinary income, which may be taxed at less favorable rates than capital gains. · Traditional Underlying Funds Risk.  These funds are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund.  As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in Traditional Underlying Funds and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in stocks and bonds.  Each Traditional Underlying Fund is subject to specific risks, depending on its investments. · Turnover Risk.  A higher portfolio turnover will result in higher transactional and brokerage costs. · Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Risk: The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act") and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act.  Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.  Your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher because you indirectly bear the expenses of the Subsidiary. Who Should Invest in the Fund? The advisor believes the Fund is appropriate for any investor who seeks more diversification than is available from a traditional long-only stock/bond allocation fund. As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Performance: Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time.  In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus.  Also, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by visiting www.RPgmutualfunds.com or by calling 1-(855)-DRP-5155. Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time. 1-(855)-DRP-5155 www.RPgmutualfunds.com