How Macro
Diversification Works
To give you an idea of the dynamic, opportunistic nature of the William Blair Macro Allocation Fund and the decisions the team makes and why, we're freezing the frame of some of the more pivotal points in its history. You can isolate one or a selection of the market exposures by using the filters to the right of the chart. See the currency exposures adjust accordingly.
Curious about how dynamic macro diversification might add value to your clients' portfolios? Learn more about the investment process, meet the investment team, or contact your William Blair & Company, L.L.C. representative.
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Why Macro?
Click Show/Hide to see what we believe:
- Markets and currencies are macro-inefficient
- Longer-term, fundamental valuation opportunities are well-compensated
- The present value of future cash flows (assets) and relative purchasing power (currencies) determine fundamental value
- Value/price discrepancies reveal investment opportunities
- Dynamic risk-capital allocation is superior to traditional asset allocation

FUND FACTS
Share Class: I | WMCIX N | WMCNX1
Total Net Assets: $363 million (as of 11/30/20)
Expense ratio2:
• Class I: 1.11% (Gross); 1.11% (Net)
• Class N: 1.36% (Gross); 1.36% (Net)
Overall Morningstar Rating™: ★★ (I) / ★★ (N)
(Rated among 250 three-year and 189 five-year multialternative funds derived from a weighted average of the fund's risk adjust returns as of 11/30/20) See important disclosure
William Blair Macro Allocation Fund Profile
2 The Fund's Adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to limit fund operating expenses until 4/30/21.
Interactive Motion Charts
Interactive Motion Charts
NOTE: Please view this site on a larger screen to best view the interactive motion charts.
- Select specific market exposures in the legend on the right to view these exposures over time
- Move the timeline slider at the bottom of this chart to a highlighted square to learn about pivotal points in the Fund's history
- Move along the timeline to see how market exposures change
- Follow currency exposures and risk budget allocations simultaneously
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Meet the Team
The William Blair Dynamic Allocation Strategies team has 16 years of investment team continuity.

Pictured, left to right:
Guy Bloomfield, started in industry 2000
Patrick Hurless, started in industry 1992
Lotta Moberg, Ph.D.,
started in industry 2015Renato Staub, Ph.D.,
started in industry 1996*John Simmons, CFA,
started in industry 1997Kyle Concannon, CFA,
started in industry 2007Sam Marshall, started in industry 2001
Tom Clarke, started in industry 1990
Brian Singer, CFA, started in Industry 1982
Edouard Senechal, CFA, FRM,
started in industry 2000Ross Hambrick, CFA,
started in industry 2013Aaron Balsam, CFA, started in industry 1998
Allyson Martinez, (not pictured) started in industry 2014
*Renato works with the Dynamic Allocation Strategies team through a business agreement between Covariance AG and William Blair & Company.The joining of the following team members denotes investment team continuity: Brian Singer, Renato Staub, and Tom Clarke.
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Learn More
Learn more about the William Blair Macro Allocation Fund and alternative investing.
Visit the William Blair Macro Allocation Fund web profile.
Fund 101 (PDF)
A simple, brief overview of what the Fund invests in, how it invests, and how the Fund may fit into your portfolio
Fund Overview (PDF)
Highlights why investors should consider the Fund, its broad investment universe, and current quarter-end allocations
Fact Sheet (PDF)
Most recent quarter-end Fund performance and exposures across its portfolio construction guidelines
PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES1
1Holding allocations are not expected to fall below lower expectation band more frequently than 10% of the trading days based on daily value of Fund; similarly, holding allocations are not expected to exceed upper expectation band more frequently than 10% of trading days based on daily value of Fund.
How We Manage Currencies (PDF)
Highlights the Fund's unique currency management approach, potential benefits of this approach, and a currency investment case study (Indian Rupee)
Game Theory and Macro Investing Playbook (PDF)
An overview of what's changed about investing and why, and how to leverage game theory to assess investment opportunities and risks
Macro Allocation Fund Videos
Watch 2-minute answers to frequently asked questions about the Fund. Watch videos at williamblairfunds.com/alternatives
- How would you describe the Macro Allocation Fund?
- How does the Fund fit into a portfolio?
- How do you fund an allocation to the Fund?
- How is the Fund correlated to other asset classes?
- How does the Fund compare to other alternative strategies?
- How does the Fund seek to manage downside risk?
- How is the Fund's currency management unique?
- What are the potential benefits of the Fund's flexibility?
- How do you determine the risk capital allocations?
- How are you able to be fully transparent?
- How do you leverage game theory in macro investing?
- How do you determine fundamental value?
- How do you vet investment ideas?
Alternative Investing Video Transcripts (PDF)
For those who prefer to read than watch, we've compiled the video transcripts for 22 simple, short answers to frequently asked questions about alternative investing.
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Contact Us
Financial Advisors: For additional information about the Macro Allocation Fund and William Blair alternative strategies, please contact a William Blair representative at
+1 877 962 5247 or visit williamblairfunds.com.
DISCLOSURE
This content is for informational and educational purposes only and not intended as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Investment advice and recommendations can be provided only after careful consideration of an investor's objectives, guidelines, and restrictions.
Performance cited represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results and current performance may be lower or higher than the data quoted. Investment returns and principal will fluctuate with market and economic conditions and you may have a gain or loss when you sell shares. For the most current month-end performance information, please call +1 800 742 7272, or click here. Expense ratios taken from most recent Fund prospectus.
1 Class N shares are available to the general public without a sales load. Class I shares are available only to investors who meet certain eligibility requirements.
The Macro Allocation Fund involves a high level of risk and may not be appropriate for everyone. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved. The Fund is not a complete investment program and you should only consider the Fund for the alternative portion of your portfolio. Separate accounts managed by the Advisor may invest in the Fund and, therefore, the Advisor at times may have discretionary authority over a significant portion of the assets invested in the Fund. In such instances, the Advisor's decision to make changes to or rebalance its clients' allocations in the separate accounts may substantially impact the Fund's performance. The Fund is designed for long-term investors.
The Macro Allocation Fund may use investment techniques and financial instruments that may be considered aggressive — including but not limited to the use of futures contracts, options on futures contracts, securities and indices, forward contracts, swap agreements and similar instruments. Such techniques may also include short sales or other techniques that are intended to provide inverse exposure to a particular market or other asset class, as well as leverage. These techniques may expose the Fund to potentially dramatic changes (losses) in the value of certain of its portfolio holdings.
Investments in the Macro Allocation Fund are subject to a number of other different types of risk, including market risk, asset allocation risk, credit risk, commodity risk, counterparty and contractual default risk, currency risk, and derivatives risk. For a more detailed explanation and discussion of these risks, please read the Fund's Prospectus.
The Morningstar Multialternative Category represents the average annual composite performance of all mutual funds listed in the Multialternative Category by Morningstar. Morningstar's Multialternative Category includes a variety of strategies focused on total return across a broad mandate.
Morningstar Rating: The Morningstar Rating TM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Morningstar Ranking: Morningstar Percentile Rankings are based on the Fund's total return (excluding sales charge) relative to all the funds in the same Morningstar category, where 1 is the highest and 100 is the lowest percentile rank.
© 2020 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Ratings and rankings are one measure of performance. Some of our Funds have experienced negative performance for the time periods shown. For the most current performance, please visit williamblairfunds.com.
Relative Purchasing Power: The exchange rate (currency) finds its fundamental value when it equalizes the prices of goods and services in different countries.
Risk Budget: The range of forward-looking risk that the team takes over time. The investment team seeks to increase
the portfolio's overall risk — within the risk budget — when there are a lot of opportunities and decrease the overall
risk when there are few opportunities.