| Label |
Element |
Value |
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Document Type |
dei_DocumentType |
485BPOS |
|
| Document Period End Date |
dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate |
Dec. 31,
2012 |
|
| Registrant Name |
dei_EntityRegistrantName |
Equinox Funds Trust |
|
| Central Index Key |
dei_EntityCentralIndexKey |
0001498272 |
|
| Amendment Flag |
dei_AmendmentFlag |
false |
|
| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
eqft |
|
| Document Creation Date |
dei_DocumentCreationDate |
Jan. 28,
2013 |
|
| Document Effective Date |
dei_DocumentEffectiveDate |
Feb.
01,
2013 |
|
| Prospectus Date |
rr_ProspectusDate |
Feb.
01,
2013 |
|
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | Commodity Strategy Fund Class A Shares
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQCAX |
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
5.75% |
|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
1.00% |
[1] |
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
(1.00%) |
|
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
1.35% |
[2] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
0.25% |
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
1.96% |
[3] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.14% |
[4] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
3.70% |
|
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(1.78%) |
[5] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.92% |
[4] |
| Expenses Deferred Charges [Text Block] |
rr_ExpensesDeferredChargesTextBlock |
A contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) of 1.00% is assessed on certain redemptions of Class A shares made within 12 months after purchase where no initial sales charge was paid at time of purchase as part of an investment of $1,000,000 or more. You should contact your financial intermediary to determine whether you are subject to the CDSC. |
|
| Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text] |
rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts |
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. |
|
| Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount] |
rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount |
25,000 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
759 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
1,487 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 |
2,234 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 |
4,190 |
|
| Annual Return 2012 |
rr_AnnualReturn2012 |
(5.33%) |
|
| Label |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel |
Return Before Taxes |
[6] |
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(10.78%) |
[6] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
(4.82%) |
[6] |
| Inception Date |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate |
Jan. 28,
2011 |
[6] |
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | Commodity Strategy Fund Class A Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(10.78%) |
[6] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
(4.84%) |
[6] |
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | Commodity Strategy Fund Class A Shares | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(7.01%) |
[6] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
(4.09%) |
[6] |
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | Commodity Strategy Fund Class C Shares
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQCCX |
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
(1.00%) |
|
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
1.35% |
[2] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
1.00% |
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
1.95% |
[3] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.14% |
[4] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
4.44% |
|
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(1.77%) |
[5] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
2.67% |
[4] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
270 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
1,184 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 |
2,108 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 |
4,464 |
|
| Label |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel |
Return Before Taxes |
[6] |
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(6.03%) |
[6] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
(2.48%) |
[6] |
| Inception Date |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate |
Jan. 28,
2011 |
[6] |
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | Commodity Strategy Fund Class I Shares
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQCIX |
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
(1.00%) |
|
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
1.35% |
[2] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
2.09% |
[3] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.14% |
[4] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
3.58% |
|
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(1.91%) |
[5] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.67% |
[4] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
170 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
920 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 |
1,692 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 |
3,720 |
|
| Label |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel |
Return Before Taxes |
[6] |
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(5.12%) |
[6] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
(1.78%) |
[6] |
| Inception Date |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate |
Jan. 28,
2011 |
[6] |
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Risk/Return [Heading] |
rr_RiskReturnHeading |
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund |
|
| Objective [Heading] |
rr_ObjectiveHeading |
Investment Objective: |
|
| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock |
The Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve capital appreciation in both rising and falling commodity markets with an annualized level of volatility that is generally lower than the historic level of volatility experienced by the S&P GSCI ® Index. |
|
| Expense [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseHeading |
Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
|
| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock |
The table below 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 or in “How to Purchase Shares” beginning on page 19 of this Prospectus and in “Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Shares” beginning on page 25 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). |
|
| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
|
| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|
| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-28 |
|
| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading |
Portfolio Turnover: |
|
| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 5% of the average value of its portfolio. |
|
| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
5.00% |
|
| Expenses Represent Both Master and Feeder [Text] |
rr_ExpensesRepresentBothMasterAndFeeder |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with the Fund’s investments in its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) or in any Trading Company. However, the Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and any Trading Company in the form of reduced returns on its investments. Equinox Fund Management, LLC (the “Adviser”) anticipates that any investment in a Managed Futures Program (as defined herein) will be subject to (i) management fees that range between 0.0% and 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees expected to range from 15.0% to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsidiary and any Trading Company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. |
|
| Expenses Restated to Reflect Current [Text] |
rr_ExpensesRestatedToReflectCurrent |
“Management Fees” have been restated to reflect current fees. |
|
| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
The total annual fund operating expenses in this fee table do not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets in the Fund’s financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund and do not include “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” |
|
| Expense Example [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseExampleHeading |
Expense Example: |
|
| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock |
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
|
| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
|
| Strategy [Heading] |
rr_StrategyHeading |
Principal Investment Strategies: |
|
| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
The Fund pursues its investment objective by primarily making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in Trading Companies that employ the “Managed Futures Program” of one or more commodity trading advisers (“CTAs”) selected by the Fund’s investment adviser, Equinox Fund Management, LLC (the “Adviser”), and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to Managed Futures Programs or commodity strategy indices. A “Managed Futures Program” generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. A “Trading Company” is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
The Advisor selects “commodity-focused” Managed Futures Programs for investment by the Fund that, over the long term, allocate greater than 50% of their total investment exposure to the physical commodity sector (i.e. agricultural products, livestock, energy and metals) and 49% or less to financial sector contracts (i.e. interest rates, currencies and equity indices). The Managed Futures Programs selected for investment by the Fund may take long or short positions in particular commodities and a variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products. The Adviser seeks to maintain the Fund’s overall exposure to the physical commodities sector at a level equal to or greater than 75% of the value of the Fund’s net assets.
• Derivative Instruments: The Fund or the Subsidiary may invest directly in a variety of derivative instruments including exchange-traded futures and option contracts, forward contracts (including interbank currencies), swaps and other over the counter (OTC) derivatives, or may invest in one or more Managed Futures Programs that utilize such derivative instruments to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products. Derivatives may be used as substitutes for securities, commodity, and currencies and for hedging price risk. In general, a derivative instrument typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. Any Managed Futures Program may take a long or short position in such markets. Any investment in derivative instruments may be subject to fees and transaction costs that will negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The fixed-income securities in which the Fund invests may have any maturity and may include, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities, money market securities and other interest-bearing instruments or any derivative instrument meant to track the return of any such instrument, and cash. The Fund may buy debt securities for liquidity purposes, to serve as collateral related to other Fund investments, or to seek income. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund may also invest, without limitation, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes. The Fund may invest in foreign fixed income securities, or it may invest in other investment companies that invest in foreign fixed income securities. As such, investors should be aware of the particular risks associated with international fixed income securities. These fixed income securities and other investments may serve as margin and collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
The Advisor employs a multi-step process to select and allocate across commodity-focused Managed Futures Programs that are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective:
i. Screening. The Advisor uses proprietary and commercial databases to identify a universe of Managed Futures Programs that may be suitable for investment by the Subsidiary. These programs are quantitatively screened primarily based on their historic performance data (i.e., return streams and volatility over selected time frames). Other criteria are also used to screen programs, including length of track record and assets under management.
ii. Analysis and Selection. The Advisor further analyzes the pre-screened Managed Futures Programs by examining both qualitative and quantitative factors. The qualitative factors include the business backgrounds of the principals, the trading strategies used, and the depth of the CTA’s research department. Quantitative analyses include a variety of financial and statistical measures that are used to better comprehend and categorize the program trading strategies. All commodity-focused Managed Futures Programs selected for inclusion into the portfolio undergo rigorous due diligence reviews before receiving an allocation. Due diligence reviews include site visits, track record verification, and background checks of the firm and principals.
iii. Portfolio Design. The Advisor invests the assets of the Subsidiary with the aim of providing exposure to a portfolio of complementary commodity-focused Managed Futures Programs and an overlay of commodity-based indices that are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. The Advisor seeks to moderate portfolio risk by diversifying the Fund’s exposure to futures contracts and other derivative instruments across: (i) trading methodologies (e.g., trend following, countertrend, spread, technical, fundamental); (ii) trading time horizons; and (iii) sectors and markets (currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products). The relative weightings and overall exposure to Managed Futures Programs in the portfolio are adjusted periodically.
iv. Risk Management. The Adviser monitors the trading and performance of the Managed Futures Programs in the portfolio with the aim of identifying and mitigating unusual risks. Some of the factors monitored are margin usage, daily volatility, and equity drawdowns. Responses to extraordinary trading patterns or increased risk may include consultation with the CTA to determine the cause of the condition, partial redemption of allocated assets, or complete withdrawal from the trading program.
The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. |
|
| Strategy Portfolio Concentration [Text] |
rr_StrategyPortfolioConcentration |
The Advisor selects “commodity-focused” Managed Futures Programs for investment by the Fund that, over the long term, allocate greater than 50% of their total investment exposure to the physical commodity sector (i.e. agricultural products, livestock, energy and metals) and 49% or less to financial sector contracts (i.e. interest rates, currencies and equity indices). |
|
| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
|
| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
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 describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Commodities Risk: Exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of a Trading Company or commodity-linked derivative investments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity price volatility, changes in interest rates, or sectors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments.
• Counterparty Risk: The derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a Trading Company may be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a Trading Company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or Trading Company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a Trading Company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk: If a security issuer or a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease. Relying on a counterparty exposes the Fund to the risk that a counterparty will not settle a transaction in accordance with its terms and conditions because of a dispute over the terms of the contract (whether or not bona fide) or because of a credit or liquidity problem, thus causing the Fund to suffer a loss. In addition, the credit quality of securities may be lowered if an issuer’s financial condition changes.
• Currency Risk: The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Derivatives Risk: The use of derivatives may expose the Fund to additional risks that it would not be subject to if it invested directly in the securities, commodities or currencies underlying those derivatives. Derivatives have economic leverage inherent in their terms that will magnify losses. There may be an imperfect correlation between the changes in market value of derivatives and the underlying asset upon which they are based. Purchased options may expire worthless. Derivative counterparties may default. There may not always be a liquid secondary market for derivative contracts. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in futures contracts and options.
• Fixed Income Securities Risk: Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully above, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates.
• Foreign Market Risk: There is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• Indirect fees and expenses: The cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of other mutual funds that invest directly in futures, forwards or other derivative instruments. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by any Trading Company in which the Fund or the Subsidiary invest, including commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses. Further, any investment in a Managed Futures Program is expected to be subject to management and performance-based fees. Management fees typically are based on the leveraged account size or the “notional exposure” of the Fund to the relevant Managed Futures Program and not the actual cash invested.
• Leverage Risk/Volatility Risk: The use of leverage by the Fund (or Managed Futures Programs in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Furthermore, derivative contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
• Liquidity Risk: The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk: The Adviser’s judgment about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation or depreciation of a particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Market Risk: Market risk refers to the risk that the market prices of securities, commodities and related instruments that the Fund holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. In general, equity securities and commodities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities. When the value of the Fund’s holdings decreases, your investment in the Fund decreases in value and you could lose money.
• Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk: Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance fees: The performance-based fees paid to a CTA may create an incentive for that CTA to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. In addition, because performance-based fees will generally be calculated on a basis that includes unrealized trading profits of the relevant Managed Futures Program, the fee may be greater than if it were based solely on realized gains. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in a Managed Futures Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to the relevant CTA, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative. Further, because performance fees are frequently calculated on a quarterly basis (and, in some cases, upon a withdrawal of capital from a Trading Company), it is possible that a CTA could earn a performance fee in a year in which its overall performance for the whole year was negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk: Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory Risk: Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a Trading Company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes: The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Managed Futures Programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• Sector Risk: The Fund may focus its investments in several commodities sectors. To the extent that it does so, developments affecting those sectors will likely have a magnified effect on the Fund’s net asset value and total returns and may subject the Fund to greater risk of loss. Accordingly, the Fund could be considerably more volatile than other mutual funds that are diversified across a greater number of sectors.
• Short Strategy Risk: The trading strategies employed by a Managed Futures Program may involve short positions in the relevant markets and the underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. The potential gain in respect of a short position is limited by the fact that such positions can never earn a trading profit greater than the price of the relevant asset at the time the short position was executed. Conversely, because losses on a short position arise from increases in the value of the security (or other asset) sold short, such loss is theoretically unlimited.
• Subsidiary Risk: The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.
Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.
• Trading Strategy Risk: The profitability of any Managed Futures Program depends primarily on the ability of its CTA to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
A CTA’s trading methods may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, of the relevant Managed Futures Programs through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon the relevant CTA’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in the price of the forward or futures contracts and the market value of the underlying instrument or reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• such CTA’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any Trading Company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, and potentially greater losses. There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or Trading Company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
rr_RiskLoseMoney |
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. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus |
The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund's assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock |
The bar chart and the performance table below gives some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by comparing the Fund’s performance with the S&P GSCI ® Index, a broad measure of market performance. In addition, the Fund’s performance is compared to the SGI Smart Market Neutral Commodity Index, the Fund’s former benchmark. The bar chart does not reflect any sales charges, which would reduce your return. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance is available at no cost by calling 1-888-643-3431. |
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| Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] |
rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns |
The bar chart and the performance table below gives some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by comparing the Fund’s performance with the S&P GSCI® Index, a broad measure of market performance. |
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| Performance Additional Market Index [Text] |
rr_PerformanceAdditionalMarketIndex |
In addition, the Fund’s performance is compared to the SGI Smart Market Neutral Commodity Index, the Fund’s former benchmark. |
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| Performance Availability Phone [Text] |
rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone |
1-888-643-3431 |
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| Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] |
rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture |
Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. |
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| Bar Chart [Heading] |
rr_BarChartHeading |
Class A shares Total Return as of December,31 |
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| Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text] |
rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads |
The bar chart does not reflect any sales charges, which would reduce your return. |
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| Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] |
rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock |
| Best Quarter |
Worst Quarter |
| 1st Quarter 2011 |
2.00% |
4th Quarter 2012 |
(3.23)% |
|
|
| Highest Quarterly Return, Label |
rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel |
Best Quarter |
|
| Highest Quarterly Return, Date |
rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate |
Mar. 31,
2011 |
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| Highest Quarterly Return |
rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn |
2.00% |
|
| Lowest Quarterly Return, Label |
rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel |
Worst Quarter |
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| Lowest Quarterly Return, Date |
rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate |
Dec. 31,
2012 |
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| Lowest Quarterly Return |
rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn |
(3.23%) |
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| Performance Table Heading |
rr_PerformanceTableHeading |
Average Annual Total Returns For the periods ended December 31, 2012 |
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| Performance Table Market Index Changed |
rr_PerformanceTableMarketIndexChanged |
Index has replaced the SGI Smart Market Neutral Commodity Index as the Fund’s benchmark. The benchmark was changed because the Adviser believes that the S&P GSCI® Index is a more appropriate index in light of the Fund’s investment strategies and the S&P GSCI® Index’s characteristics. |
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| Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] |
rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes |
reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes |
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| Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate |
rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate |
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. |
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| Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred |
rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred |
Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. |
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| Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text] |
rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown |
After-tax returns shown are for Class A shares and after-tax returns for other Classes will vary. |
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| Performance Table Closing [Text Block] |
rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock |
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not relevant if you hold your shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns shown are for Class A shares and after-tax returns for other Classes will vary. |
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Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | S&P GSCI Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
|
|
|
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
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| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
0.26% |
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| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
1.93% |
|
|
Equinox Commodity Strategy Fund | SGI Smart Market Neutral Commodity Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
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|
|
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| 1 Year |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 |
(0.53%) |
[7] |
| Since Inception |
rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception |
1.42% |
[7] |
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Equinox Abraham Strategy Fund | Equinox Abraham Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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|
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EABIX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
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| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[10] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
|
|
Equinox Abraham Strategy Fund
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|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
rr_RiskReturnHeading |
Equinox Abraham Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
rr_ObjectiveHeading |
Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock |
The Equinox Abraham Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseHeading |
Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock |
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
|
| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading |
Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period April 19, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
0.00% |
|
| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
|
| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
“Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in “Management fees” in the table above. To the extent applicable, “Other Expenses” include estimated expenses of the Fund’s consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (“Subsidiary”), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or “CTA” with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Abraham Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies’ profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
|
| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseExampleHeading |
Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock |
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
|
| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
rr_StrategyHeading |
Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”), investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Abraham Trading Company (“Abraham”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of Abraham (the “Abraham Program”). The Abraham Program generally utilizes a systematic trading model, blending long-term and short-term trend following, short-term momentum, and mean reversion strategies in an effort to reduce volatility without sacrificing performance. In so doing, the Abraham Program seeks opportunities to enter trades believed to provide superior risk/reward characteristics that capture major trends in a diverse group of markets. In evaluating the various factors which make up a trading decision, the Abraham Program weighs each trade’s risk-reward potential, how it fits into the risk profile of the entire strategy, and whether it adheres to the program’s overall trading goals. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Abraham Program includes a variety of commodity, interest rate and financial futures markets.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to gain exposure to the Abraham Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB—or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund, which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. In addition, applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
A Mean Reversion strategy generally seeks to identify instruments whose prices have deviated from, and therefore are likely to return to, their historical averages. If an instrument is trading below its historical average price, a mean reversion strategy generally would entail taking a long position on the instrument, while if an instrument is trading above its historical average price, a mean reversion strategy generally would entail taking a short position in the instrument.
A Momentum strategy generally seeks to identify the recent price movements of a specific global market segment over a specific period of time, and buy or sell an investment based on these price movements. Generally, a momentum strategy would entail taking a long position on an investment with an upward price movement and a short position on an investment with a downward price movement.
Systematic Trading is a trading strategy that employs computer-driven, mathematical models to identify when to buy or sell an instrument according to rules determined before a trade is made, generally, with little or no human intervention once a mathematical formula has been entered.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
A Trend Following strategy generally seeks to identify the general direction of one or more global market segments (either up or down) using indicators such as current market prices and moving average prices, and buy or sell investments based on the assessment of these trade signals as determined before a trade is made. Trend-following generally focuses on the direction an investment or global market segment already has gone and not on the direction it may go.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
|
| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Abraham Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Abraham Program depends primarily on the ability of Abraham to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Abraham Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees associated with the Abraham Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon Abraham’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• Abraham’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Abraham Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the Abraham Program) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Abraham Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Abraham Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Abraham Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Abraham Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Abraham Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Abraham Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Abraham Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to Abraham may create an incentive for Abraham to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Abraham Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Abraham, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund's assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund's performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox Absolute Return Plus Strategy Fund | Equinox Absolute Return Plus Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EMEIX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
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| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
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| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[13] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
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Equinox Absolute Return Plus Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
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Equinox Absolute Return Plus Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
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The Equinox Absolute Return Plus Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
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The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
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Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
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The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period April 19, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
0.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in Management fees in the table above. To the extent applicable, Other Expenses include estimated expenses of the Funds consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (Subsidiary), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or CTA with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Absolute Return Plus Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 30.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 2.0% of new high net trading profits.The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
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This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Mesirow Financial Commodities Management, LLC (“MFCM”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of MFCM (the “Absolute Return Plus Program”). The Absolute Return Plus Program utilizes a fundamental, global macro approach with a focus on commodities, coupled with rigorous risk management while seeking to generate potentially consistent returns with low volatility in various market environments. The Absolute Return Plus Program seeks to generate returns in both rising and falling market environments by applying discretionary, fundamental evaluation of market drivers and their impact on various market sectors. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Absolute Return Plus Program includes stock indices, currencies, and commodities.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to gain exposure to the Absolute Return Plus Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
Fundamental Analysis is the study of basic, underlying factors that will affect the supply and demand of an investment. For example, with respect to commodity futures, fundamental analysis may look at crop reports, weather patterns, economic reports and other fundamental data to determine whether to buy or sell the futures contract.
A Global Macro strategy generally analyzes global economic, political or financial trends to seek returns and invests across a number of geographic regions.
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
Volatility is a measurement of the frequency and magnitude of changes in price over a given time period.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Absolute Return Plus Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Absolute Return Plus Program depends primarily on the ability of MFCM to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Absolute Return Plus Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associated with the Absolute Return Plus Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon MFCM’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption of other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• MFCM’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Absolute Return Plus Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment in exposure to the Absolute Return Plus Program will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Absolute Return Plus Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Absolute Return Plus Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Absolute Return Plus Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Absolute Return Plus Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Absolute Return Plus Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Absolute Return Plus Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Absolute Return Plus Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to MFCM may create an incentive for MFCM to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Absolute Return Plus Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Absolute Return Plus Program, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund's performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox Chesapeake Strategy Fund | Equinox Chesapeake Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQCHX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
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|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
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|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[14] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[11],[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
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Equinox Chesapeake Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
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Equinox Chesapeake Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
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The Equinox Chesapeake Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock |
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading |
Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period April 19, 2012 through September 30, 2012 the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
0.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in Management fees in the table above. To the extent applicable, Other Expenses include estimated expenses of the Funds consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (Subsidiary), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or CTA with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Chesapeake Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsiiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
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This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in(i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Chesapeake Capital Corporation (“Chesapeake”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of Chesapeake (the “Chesapeake Program”). The Chesapeake Program is a long-term trend following program that utilizes trading systems across a broadly diversified set of markets with a systematic investment approach, focusing on capital preservation while attempting to provide positive annual returns. The Chesapeake Program analyzes markets, including price movement, market volatility, open interest, and volume, as a means of predicting market opportunity and discovering any repeating patterns in past historical prices. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Chesapeake Program includes stock indices, single stock futures, interest rates, currencies, and commodities.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to join exposure to Chesapeake Program; or (ii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
A futures contract’s Open Interest is the total number of the contracts long or short in a delivery month or market that has been entered into and not yet liquidated by an offsetting transaction or fulfilled by delivery.
Systematic Trading is a trading strategy that employs computer-driven, mathematical models to identify when to buy or sell an instrument according to rules determined before a trade is made; generally with little or no human intervention once a mathematical formula has been entered.
Technical Analysis is a method of evaluating an investment opportunity by using charts or computer programs to identify patterns in market data, such as price change, rates of change, and changes in volume of trading, open interest and other statistical indicators, in order to project the direction that a market or the price of an investment will move. Technical analysis does not take into account fundamental market factors, such as supply and demand.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
A Trend Following strategy generally seeks to identify the general direction of one or more global market segments (either up or down) using indicators such as current market prices and moving average prices, and buy or sell investments based on the assessment of these trade signals as determined before a trade is made. Trend-following generally focuses on the direction an investment or global market segment already has gone and not on the direction it may go.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund's investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund's net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Chesapeake Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Chesapeake Program depends primarily on the ability of Chesapeake to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Chesapeake Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associated with the Chesapeake Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon Chesapeake’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract; and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• Chesapeake’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Chesapeake Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the Chesapeake Program) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Chesapeake Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Chesapeake Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Chesapeake Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Chesapeake Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain.CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Chesapeake Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Chesapeake Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Chesapeake Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to Chesapeake may create an incentive for Chesapeake to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Chesapeake Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Chesapeake, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox Crabel Two Plus Strategy Fund | Equinox Crabel Two Plus Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQCRX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
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| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[15] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
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Equinox Crabel Two Plus Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
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Equinox Crabel Two Plus Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
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The Equinox Crabel Two Plus Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
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The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
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Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
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The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period April 19, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
0.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in Management fees in the table above. To the extent applicable, Other Expenses include estimated expenses of the Funds consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (Subsidiary), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or CTA with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Crabel Two Plus Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading pofits. The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
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This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Crabel Capital Management, LLC (“Crabel”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of Crabel (the “Crabel Two Plus Program”). The Crabel Two Plus Program uses a systematic trading model that focuses on the price of an investment in order to maximize risk-adjusted returns with little to no correlation to traditional asset classes. The Crabel Two Plus Program employs the scientific method in analyzing an investment, beginning with an observation of market behavior, developing a hypothesis on the future price movement of an investment and using statistical models to test the hypothesis. The Crabel Two Plus Program’s method is results-oriented and combines trend following with short-term trading. The Crabel Two Plus Program is diversified across a large number of strategies and market sectors. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Crabel Two Plus Program includes interest rates, stock indices, currencies, and commodities.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to gain exposure to Crabel Two Plus Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
Alpha is a statistical measure of risk-adjusted return for a particular investment. A higher alpha indicates stronger performance than predicted by the investment’s level of risk. A lower alpha indicates a poorer performance than predicted by the investment’s level of risk.
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
Systematic Trading is a trading strategy that employs computer-driven, mathematical models to identify when to buy or sell an instrument according to rules determined before a trade is made, generally, with little or no human intervention once a mathematical formula has been entered.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
A Trend Following strategy generally seeks to identify the general direction of one or more global market segments (either up or down) using indicators such as current market prices and moving average prices, and buy or sell investments based on the assessment of these trade signals as determined before a trade is made. Trend-following generally focuses on the direction an investment or global market segment already has gone and not on the direction it may go.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Crabel Two Plus Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Crabel Two Plus Program depends primarily on the ability of Crabel to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Crabel Two Plus Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associated with the Crabel Two Plus Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon Crabel’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• Crabel’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Crabel Two Plus Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the Crabel Two Plus Program will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Crabel Two Plus Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Crabel Two Plus Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Crabel Two Plus Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns andshare price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Crabel Two Plus Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Crabel Two Plus Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Crabel Two Plus Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Crabel Two Plus Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to Crabel may create an incentive for Crabel to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Crabel Two Plus Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Crabel, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory Risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox Eclipse Strategy Fund | Equinox Eclipse Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EECIX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[16] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[11],[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
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Equinox Eclipse Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
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Eclipse Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock |
The Equinox Eclipse Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
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The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
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Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund's performance. For the fiscal period January 25, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 51% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
51.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in Management fees in the table above. To the extent applicable, Other Expenses include estimated expenses of the Funds consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (Subsidiary), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or CTA with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Eclipse Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits.he Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock |
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
rr_StrategyHeading |
Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the "Subsidiary") investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Eclipse Capital Management, Inc. (“Eclipse”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of Eclipse (the “Eclipse Program”). The Eclipse Program utilizes a systematic, quantitative managed futures program that combines momentum, mean reversion, global macro and fundamental strategies. The Eclipse Program uses a diversified collection of statistical models, which tracks price movements and other data. The Eclipse Program, with its multifactor approach to trading, was designed to provide reliable future performance. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Eclipse Program includes fixed income, equity indices, commodities, and currencies.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to join exposure to the Eclipse Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB—or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“the Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
Fundamental Analysis is the study of basic, underlying factors that will affect the supply and demand of an investment. For example, with respect to commodity futures, fundamental analysis may look at crop reports, weather patterns, economic reports and other fundamental data to determine whether to buy or sell the futures contract.
A Global Macro strategy generally analyzes global economic, political or financial trends to seek returns and invests across a number of geographic regions.
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
A Mean Reversion strategy generally seeks to identify instruments whose prices have deviated from, and therefore are likely to return to, their historical averages. If an instrument is trading below its historical average price, a mean reversion strategy generally would entail taking a long position on the instrument, while if an instrument is trading above its historical average price, a mean reversion strategy generally would entail taking a short position in the instrument.
A Momentum strategy generally seeks to identify the recent price movements of a specific global market segment over a specific period of time, and buy or sell an investment based on these price movements. Generally, a momentum strategy would entail taking a long position on an investment with an upward price movement and a short position on an investment with a downward price movement.
Systematic Trading is a trading strategy that employs computer-driven, mathematical models to identify when to buy or sell an instrument according to rules determined before a trade is made, generally; with little or no human intervention once a mathematical formula has been entered.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund's investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund's net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Eclipse Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Eclipse Program depends primarily on the ability of Eclipse to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Eclipse Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associated with the Eclipse Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon Eclipse’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contract;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• Eclipse’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments orclose certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Eclipse Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the Eclipse Program.) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Eclipse Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Eclipse Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Eclipse Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Eclipse Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Eclipse Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Eclipse Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Eclipse Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to Eclipse may create an incentive for Eclipse to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Eclipse Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Eclipse, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory Rsk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox John Locke Strategy Fund | Equinox John Locke Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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|
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EJLIX |
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
8.40% |
[17] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
none
|
[18] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
9.15% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(8.05%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.10% |
[12],[18] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
112 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
1,935 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 |
3,611 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 |
7,227 |
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Equinox John Locke Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
rr_RiskReturnHeading |
John Locke Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock |
The Equinox John Locke Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
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The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
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Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period January 25, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 45% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
45.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
“Other Expenses” include expenses of the Fund’s consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (“Subsidiary”), and consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary invests, as reflected in the Fund’s consolidated financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal period. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or “CTA” with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the John Locke Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies’ profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
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This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
rr_StrategyHeading |
Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of John Locke Investments (“John Locke”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of John Locke (the “John Locke Program”). The John Locke Program takes a systematic, approach to investing in global futures markets, testing multiple variables to detect trends of a variety of futures contracts over time. The John Locke Program seeks to equalize risk across all futures contracts by measuring volatility in real time and limiting value-at-risk. The John Locke Program starts with a research process that is structured to avoid overdependence on historical data. To this end, all research is carried out on the same platform with a standardized dataset, standardized backtesting methodology, standardized simulation trading, and standardized slippage hypothesis. The John Locke Program uses a quantitative method to investment management in an effort to identify deeply engrained patterns in markets, developing models to identify these patterns. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the John Locke Program includes stock indices, currencies, bonds and commodities.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to gain exposure to the John Locke Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into aseries of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB—or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
Backtesting is the process of using historical data to simulate a trading strategy over a prior time period in order to determine how effective the strategy would have been if used during that time period.
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
Simulation Trading is the process of testing a trading strategy under multiple, hypothetical scenarios in order to help determine the likelihood that a trade will produce the desired result.
Slippage is the difference between the price at which a trade is expected to be executed and the actual price at which it is executed. Slippage may occur for a variety of reasons, such as in volatile markets where executing a trade at the expected price may not be possible.
Systematic Trading is a trading strategy that employs computer-driven, mathematical models to identify when to buy or sell an instrument according to rules determined before a trade is made, generally, with little or no human intervention once a mathematical formula has been entered.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
A Trend is the general direction, either upward or downward, in which prices have been moving.
Value-at-Risk is a statistical analysis used to estimate the likelihood that a portfolio will suffer a certain loss over a certain time period.
Volatility is a measurement of the frequency and magnitude of changes in price over a given time period.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
rr_RiskHeading |
Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• John Locke Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the John Locke Program depends primarily on the ability of John Locke to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The John Locke Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees associated with the John Locke Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon John Locke’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• John Locke’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the John Locke Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the John Locke Program in a derivative instrument or trading company) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the John Locke Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the John Locke Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the John Locke Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the John Locke Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the John Locke Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the John Locke Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the John Locke Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to John Locke may create an incentive for John Locke to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the John Locke Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to John Locke, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”) and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
rr_RiskLoseMoney |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus |
The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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|
Equinox QCM Strategy Fund | Equinox QCM Strategy Fund Class I Shares
|
|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQQCX |
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
|
|
| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
|
|
| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
1224.81% |
[19] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
none
|
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1225.56% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(1224.46%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.10% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
112 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
6,631,390 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 |
839,290,899 |
|
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 |
148,291,268,459,599 |
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|
Equinox QCM Strategy Fund
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|
|
|
| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
|
|
| Risk/Return [Heading] |
rr_RiskReturnHeading |
Equinox QCM Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
rr_ObjectiveHeading |
Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock |
The Equinox QCM Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseHeading |
Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock |
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading |
Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock |
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period January 25, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 65% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
65.00% |
|
| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
“Other Expenses” include estimated expenses of the Fund's consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (“Subsidiary”), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or “CTA” with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the QCM GDP (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies’ profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
rr_ExpenseExampleHeading |
Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock |
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption |
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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
rr_StrategyHeading |
Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the "Subsidiary") investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Quality Capital Management Ltd. (”QCM”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of QCM (the “QCM GDP”). The QCM GDP uses a trading model that tracks investments continuously across long, medium and short time frames and relies on market dynamics to shape each trade based on expected return and risk. The QCM GDP seeks to capture long-term momentum moves in markets while at the same time using short-term factors in effort to opportunistically generate gains and/or manage risk. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the QCM GDP includes stock indices, interest rates, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreements to gain exposure to the QCM GDP Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities, securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB—or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
A Momentum strategy generally seeks to identify the recent price movements of a specific global market segment over a specific period of time, and buy or sell an investment based on these price movements. Generally, a momentum strategy would entail taking a long position on an investment with an upward price movement and a short position on an investment with a downward price movement.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
Volatility is a measurement of the frequency and magnitude of changes in price over a given time period.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund's investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund's net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• QCM GDP Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the QCM GDP depends primarily on the ability of QCM to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The QCM GDP may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associaited with the QCM GDP through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon QCM’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contract;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• QCM’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the QCM GDP (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the QCM GDP) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the QCM GDP did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the QCM GDP’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the QCM GDP.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes inthe value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the QCM GDP or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the QCM GDP. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the QCM GDP, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein.Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the QCM GDP or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to QCM may create an incentive for QCM to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the QCM GDP is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Campbell, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory Risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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| Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] |
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Performance: |
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| Performance Narrative [Text Block] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess |
The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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Equinox Tiverton Strategy Fund | Equinox Tiverton Strategy Fund Class I Shares
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
rr_ProspectusLineItems |
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| Trading Symbol |
dei_TradingSymbol |
EQTVX |
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of original purchase price) |
rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice |
none
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| Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions |
rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther |
none
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| Redemption Fee (as a % of amount redeemed, if sold before 30 days) |
rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption |
none
|
[8] |
| Management Fees |
rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets |
0.75% |
[9] |
| Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets |
none
|
|
| Other Expenses |
rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets |
0.78% |
[20] |
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets |
0.07% |
[11] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
rr_ExpensesOverAssets |
1.60% |
[12] |
| Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets |
(0.43%) |
[12] |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (after Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement) |
rr_NetExpensesOverAssets |
1.17% |
[12] |
| Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 |
119 |
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| Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years |
rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 |
463 |
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Equinox Tiverton Strategy Fund
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| Prospectus [Line Items] |
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| Risk/Return [Heading] |
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Equinox Tiverton Strategy Fund |
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| Objective [Heading] |
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Investment Objective: |
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| Objective, Primary [Text Block] |
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The Equinox Tiverton Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation. |
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| Expense [Heading] |
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Fees and Expenses of the Fund: |
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| Expense Narrative [Text Block] |
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The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. |
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| Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] |
rr_ShareholderFeesCaption |
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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| Operating Expenses Caption [Text] |
rr_OperatingExpensesCaption |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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| Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination |
rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination |
2014-01-31 |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Heading] |
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Portfolio Turnover: |
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| Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] |
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The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or derivative instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate 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” in the table above or in the Example) affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period April 19, 2012 through September 30, 2012, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. |
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| Portfolio Turnover, Rate |
rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate |
0.00% |
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| Expenses Explanation of Nonrecurring Account Fee [Text] |
rr_ExpensesExplanationOfNonrecurringAccountFee |
The Fund’s transfer agent charges a $15.00 fee for each wire redemption. |
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| Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates |
Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds current fiscal year. This item does not include management fees paid by the Subsidiary to the Adviser, which are included in Management fees in the table above. To the extent applicable, Other Expenses include estimated expenses of the Funds consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary (Subsidiary), and any consolidated trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest. Trading companies in which the Subsidiary may invest may pay management fees and/or incentive fees to the commodity trading advisor or CTA with whom the trading company contracts. The Fund indirectly bears the fees and expenses of the Subsidiary and consolidated trading companies in the form of reduced returns on its investments. The Adviser anticipates that any investment in the Tiverton Program (as defined below) will be subject to (i) management fees of up to 2.0% of notional exposure, and (ii) performance-based incentive fees of up to 30.0% of new high net trading profits. The Subsidiary and any trading company are also subject to certain derivative trading costs, including brokerage commissions and various exchange fees. Actual fees and expenses may vary from year to year, including depending on the trading companies profits and amount of assets allocated to each trading company. Positive performance of a trading company will have the effect of increasing the trading companies fees and expenses to the extent that the relevant CTA earns performance fees. |
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| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, Based on Estimates [Text] |
rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesBasedOnEstimates |
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year. |
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| Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] |
rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees |
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 and do not include
“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.” “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” do not include fees and expenses associated with
the Fund’s investments in its Subsidiary or in any trading company. |
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| Expense Example [Heading] |
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Expense Example: |
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| Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] |
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This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. |
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| Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] |
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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 on these assumptions your costs would be: |
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| Strategy [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Strategies: |
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| Strategy Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock |
Please refer to the section entitled “Key Terms” below for additional information on highlighted terms.
The Fund pursues its investment objective by making a combination of investments either (i) directly in an actively managed fixed-income portfolio or (ii) indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) investing in (i) trading companies that employ the managed futures program of Tiverton Trading (“Tiverton”), a commodity trading adviser (“CTA”) registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and/or derivative instruments such as swap agreements that provide exposure to the managed futures program of Tiverton (the “Tiverton Program”). The Tiverton Program seeks to achieve capital growth consistent with capital preservation and attempts to control risks with disciplined money management. In so doing, the Tiverton Program relies on a combination of fundamental and technical analysis in making trading decisions, with the objective of participating in major price moves in the markets traded. The scope of markets that may be accessed by the Tiverton Program includes foreign exchange, short and long term interest rates, equity indices and their sectors, base and precious metals, grains, the soy complex, softs, and industrials.
• Derivative Instruments: As a principal investment strategy, the Fund or the Subsidiary will either (i) invest in one or more trading companies that use a variety of derivative instruments including swap agreements, exchange-traded futures and option contracts and forward contracts to gain exposure to a wide variety of global markets for currencies, interest rates, stock market indices, energy resources, metals and agricultural products and to hedge price risk; (ii) enter into swap agreement to join exposure to the Tiverton Program; or (iii) invest in some combination of (i) and (ii). In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides exposure to potential gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency or commodity (or a basket or index) in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. A trading company may take a long or short position in such market. The Fund or its Subsidiary may also invest in a variety of derivative instruments.
• Fixed-Income Securities: The Fund will also invest in fixed income securities in order to seek income, for liquidity purposes, and to serve as margin or collateral for the derivatives positions of the Fund or the Subsidiary to the extent necessary. The Fund may invest in a variety of investment grade fixed income securities, including, without limitation, corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities and money market mutual fund shares. The Fund also may seek to obtain market exposure to fixed income securities by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts. The Fund defines investment grade securities as those that are rated, at the time of purchase, as BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any duration. The Fund may also invest, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules under it, in money market funds or other investment companies (such as exchange traded funds) whose assets are comprised primarily of fixed income securities or that seek to track the composition and/or performance of specific fixed income indexes.
• Subsidiary: Investments in the Subsidiary, which has the same investment objective as the Fund, are intended to provide the Fund with indirect exposure to futures contracts and commodities in a manner consistent with the limitations and requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that apply to the Fund, which limit the amount of income the Fund may receive from certain sources. Applicable federal tax requirements generally limit the degree to which the Fund may invest in the Subsidiary to an amount not exceeding 25% of its total assets. To the extent they are applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.
KEY TERMS
A Managed Futures Program generally is a trading program that a CTA uses to guide its investments in futures, forwards, options or spot contracts. Each of these investments may be tied to a particular asset class: commodities, equities, fixed income or foreign currencies. A managed futures program may use one or a combination of trading strategies, including those described below.
Examples of Softs, or soft commodities, are sugar, cocoa, and coffee.
A Trading Company is a pooled investment vehicle organized as a limited liability company and operated as a commodity pool.
The Fund’s return will be derived principally from changes in the value of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio (including its investment in the Subsidiary), and the Fund’s assets will consist principally of securities. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it can invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than a diversified fund. The Adviser may engage in frequent buying and selling of portfolio holdings to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. |
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| Risk [Heading] |
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Principal Investment Risks: |
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| Risk Narrative [Text Block] |
rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock |
As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. In general, the Fund’s investment strategies involve greater risks than the strategies used by a typical mutual fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes some of the risks the Fund may bear through direct investments in securities and derivatives as well as indirectly through its investment in the Subsidiary.
• Tiverton Program Strategy Risk. The profitability of any Fund investment in the Tiverton Program depends primarily on the ability of Tiverton to anticipate price movements in the relevant markets and underlying derivative instruments and futures contracts. Such price movements are influenced by, among other things:
• changes in interest rates;
• governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies;
• weather and climate conditions;
• natural disasters, such as hurricanes;
• changing supply and demand relationships;
• changes in balances of payments and trade;
• U.S. and international rates of inflation and deflation;
• currency devaluations and revaluations;
• U.S. and international political and economic events; and
• changes in philosophies and emotions of various market participants.
The Tiverton Program may not take all of these factors into account. In addition, the Fund will indirectly bear the expenses, including management fees, incentive fees and transaction fees, associated with the Tiverton Program through reduced returns.
The successful use of forward and futures contracts draws upon Tiverton’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are:
• Futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;
• the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the instruments held by a trading company and the price of the forward or futures contract and the market value of the underlying instrument of reference assets with respect to such contracts;
• possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;
• possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;
• losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which are potentially unlimited;
• Tiverton’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;
• the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and
• if the Fund or any trading company has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so
The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Tiverton Program (and indirectly the Fund through its investment exposure to the Tiverton Program) will have the potential for greater losses, as well as the potential for greater gains, than if the Tiverton Program did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase ordecrease in the Tiverton Program’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the trading company’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Tiverton Program.
There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument or trading company with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
• Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund through its investment in the Subsidiary to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; and governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
• Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company invest in are swap agreements, futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depend largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.
• Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully below, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).
• Counterparty Risk. Many of the derivative contracts entered into by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company will be privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. If a privately negotiated over-the-counter contract calls for payments by the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company, the Fund, the Subsidiary or trading company must be prepared to make such payments when due. In addition, if a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the Fund, the Subsidiary or a trading company may not receive payments owed under the contract, or such payments may be delayed under such circumstances and the value of agreements with such counterparty can be expected to decline, potentially resulting in losses by the Fund.
• Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default.
• Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.
• Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.
• Foreign Market Risk. As a general rule, there is less legal and regulatory protection for investors in foreign markets than that available domestically. Additionally, trading on foreign exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls, expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. Some foreign derivative markets are so-called principals’ markets in which performance is the responsibility only of the individual counterparty with whom the trader has entered into a commodity interest transaction and not of the exchange or clearing corporation. International trading activities are subject to foreign exchange risk.
• General Market Risk. The Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.
• Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes. The recent instability in financial markets has led the government to take a number of unprecedented actions designed to support certain financial institutions and segments of the financial markets that are exposed to extreme volatility and in some cases lack of liquidity. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revises and expands the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. It is unclear how these regulators will exercise these revised and expanded powers and whether they will undertake rulemaking, supervisory or enforcement actions that would adversely affect the Fund or investments made by the Fund. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act or other legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new regulatory structure for derivatives. If more restrictive position limits are imposed on investors in the commodity futures and other derivative markets, the Tiverton Program or other managed futures programs in which trading companies invest, and as a result, the Fund, may be adversely affected. Similarly, changes in the regulation of foreign currency-related trading arising from the Dodd-Frank Act may make such trading more expensive for the Fund, and otherwise limit the Fund’s ability to engage in such trading, which could adversely affect the Fund.
In 2012, the CFTC adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations that were available to the Fund and its Subsidiary. Effective January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiary are subject to CFTC regulations because of these changes. At the time of the CFTC’s adoption of the rule amendments, Equinox was (and continues to be) registered as a commodity pool operator and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations. The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain. CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized. The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
• High Indirect Fees and Expenses. Your cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the cost of investing in other mutual funds that invest directly in the types of instruments traded by the Tiverton Program. In addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses, you will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the Subsidiary and by a trading company, including management fees and performance-based fees associated with the Tiverton Program, commodity brokerage commissions and operating expenses.
• Leverage/Volatility Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund (or trading companies in which the Fund invests) will cause the value of the Fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the Fund did not employ leverage. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other investments. Relatively small market movements may result in large changes in the value of a leveraged investment. The potential loss on such leveraged investments may be substantial relative to the initial investment therein. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Consequently, you could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s (or the relevant trading companies’) trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.
The Fund’s NAV is expected over short-term periods to be volatile because of the significant use of direct and indirect investments that have a leveraging effect. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of up and down asset price fluctuations over time. Rapid and dramatic price swings will result in high volatility. The Fund’s returns are expected to be volatile; however, the actual or realized volatility level for longer or shorter periods may be materially higher or lower depending on market conditions and investors may suffer a significant and possibly a complete loss on their investment in the Fund.
• Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in illiquid securities or derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the security or derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.
• Management Risk. The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential positive or negative performance of the Tiverton Program or any particular security or derivative in which the Fund invests or sells short may prove to be inaccurate and may not produce the desired results.
• Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer.
• OTC Trading Risk. Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “OTC” market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.
• Performance Fees. The performance-based fees indirectly paid to Tiverton may create an incentive for Tiverton to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than those they might have made in the absence of such performance-based fees. Positive performance of the Fund’s investments in the Tiverton Program is expected to result in performance-based compensation being paid to Tiverton, which will be borne indirectly by the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.
• Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may frequently buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance the Fund’s exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.
• Regulatory Risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund, its Subsidiary or a trading company, or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.
• Subsidiary Risk. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and 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. For example, Cayman Islands law does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands governmental authority taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns. |
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| Risk Lose Money [Text] |
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As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. |
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| Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] |
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The Fund is a non-diversified investment company, which means that more of the Fund’s assets may be invested in the securities of a single issuer than could be invested in the securities of a single issuer by a diversified investment company. The Fund has a greater potential to realize losses upon the occurrence of adverse events affecting a particular issuer. |
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Performance: |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. |
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| Performance One Year or Less [Text] |
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The Fund’s performance information is shown only when the Fund has had a full calendar year of operations. |
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