Investment objective & strategy
As of Oct. 24, 2025 · prospectusObjective. HUSSMAN STRATEGIC TOTAL RETURN FUND (the Fund) seeks to achieve long-term total return from income and capital appreciation.
Strategy. The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing its assets primarily in fixed-income securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds, notes and bills, Treasury inflation-protected securities, U.S. Treasury Strips, U.S. Government agency securities, and investment grade corporate debt rated BBB or higher by Standard & Poors Global Ratings or Baa or higher by Moodys Ratings, or having an equivalent rating from another independent rating organization. The Fund varies its allocations to these asset classes based on prevailing valuations and estimated expected returns in these markets as determined by Hussman Strategic Advisors, Inc., the Funds investment adviser. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its net assets in securities outside of the U.S. fixed-income market, such as utility and other energy-related … The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing its assets primarily in fixed-income securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds, notes and bills, Treasury inflation-protected securities, U.S. Treasury Strips, U.S. Government agency securities, and investment grade corporate debt rated BBB or higher by Standard & Poors Global Ratings or Baa or higher by Moodys Ratings, or having an equivalent rating from another independent rating organization. The Fund varies its allocations to these asset classes based on prevailing valuations and estimated expected returns in these markets as determined by Hussman Strategic Advisors, Inc., the Funds investment adviser. The Fund may invest up to 30% of its net assets in securities outside of the U.S. fixed-income market, such as utility and other energy-related stocks, precious metals and mining stocks, shares of real estate investment trusts (REITs), shares of exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other similar instruments, such as foreign government bond ETFs. In addition, the Fund may use foreign currency ETFs to establish or modify the portfolios exposure to currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The Fund may make limited use of Treasury debt options and futures to manage its exposure to interest rate risk. The Funds principal investment strategies emphasize strategic management of the average interest rate sensitivity (duration) of portfolio holdings, the Funds exposure to changes in the yield curve, and allocation among fixed-income alternatives and inflation hedges. The interest rate sensitivity (duration) of a bond is related to the average date that an investor receives payment of principal and interest. Under normal market conditions, the duration of the Funds portfolio is expected to range between 1 year and 15 years. In its most aggressive stance (a duration of 15 years), the Funds net asset value (NAV) could be expected to fluctuate by approximately 15% in response to a 1% (100 basis point) change in the general level of interest rates. The investment adviser believes that return/risk characteristics in the fixed-income market differ significantly across varying market conditions. The two most important dimensions considered by the investment adviser are valuation and market action. In the fixed-income market, favorable valuation means that yields on long-term bonds appear reasonable in relation to inflation, short-term interest rates, economic growth, and yields available on competing assets, such as utility stocks and foreign bonds. Market action considers the behavior of a wide range of yields and prices, in an attempt to assess the economic outlook of investors and their willingness to accept market risk. In addition, the investment adviser evaluates economic conditions, investor sentiment, interest rates, credit-sensitive indicators and other factors in an attempt to classify prevailing market conditions with historically similar instances. Historically, different combinations of valuation, market action and other factors have been accompanied by significantly different bond market performance in terms of return/risk. The specific profile of yield behavior (such as changes in the yield curve or credit spreads) is also an important factor. The investment adviser believes that foreign government debt and precious metals stocks are favored when real U.S. interest rates (nominal interest rates minus inflation) are declining relative to real foreign interest rates. The investment adviser generally will increase the exposure of the Fund to interest rate risk in environments where the return expected to be derived from that risk is high, and generally will reduce exposure to interest rate risk when the return expected to be derived from that risk is unfavorable. The investment adviser will also purchase utility and other energy-related stocks, precious metals stocks, shares of REITs, foreign currency ETFs, and foreign government bond ETFs when market conditions are believed to favor such diversification. There are no restrictions as to the market capitalizations of companies in which the Fund invests. However, the Fund invests primarily in stocks that are listed or trade on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ Stock Market. The Fund generally invests in stocks of companies with market capitalizations in excess of $500 million, although it may invest a portion of its assets in the stocks of companies having smaller market capitalizations. Specific strategies for increasing interest rate exposure include the purchase of long-term bonds, Treasury zero-coupon bonds and Treasury interest strips, which exhibit magnified price movements in response to interest rate changes. The Fund will not invest more than 30% of its net assets in Treasury zero-coupon bonds and Treasury interest strips. The Fund may use foreign currency ETFs to establish or modify its investment exposure to foreign currencies. The Fund uses derivatives either to obtain investment exposures consistent with its investment objective and policies, or to hedge its investment exposures. Specific strategies for reducing or hedging the Funds interest rate exposure include the purchase of short-term notes and bills, which exhibit limited price movements in response to interest rate changes. The Fund may also purchase put options and write call options on Treasury futures to hedge the interest rate risk of long-term bonds in its portfolio. In addition, the Fund may seek to hedge its exposure in a given investment sector by effecting short sales of ETFs, or by purchasing put options on indices or ETFs considered by the investment adviser to be correlated with securities held by the Fund. The total notional value of the Funds hedge positions in fixed-income securities (the dollar value of Treasury securities represented by put and call options held by the Fund) is not expected to exceed the total value of fixed-income securities held by the Fund having remaining maturities of 5 years or more. The total notional value of the Funds hedge positions in equities is not expected to exceed the total value of equities held by the Fund. So the most defensive position expected by the Fund will be a fully hedged position in which the entire value of equities and intermediate and long-term fixed-income securities held by the Fund is protected. However, the Fund may experience a loss even when the entire value of its portfolio is hedged if the securities held by the Fund do not exceed the returns of the securities and financial instruments used to hedge.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Treasury Notes | TII | $65.58M | 24.17% |
| Invesco Treasury Portfolio, Institutional Class | — | $45.08M | 16.61% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $34.72M | 12.80% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $29.42M | 10.84% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $29.29M | 10.80% |
| U.S. TREASURY INFLATION-PROTECTED SECURITIES 2-1/2% 01/15/29 | TII | $15.72M | 5.79% |
| U.S. Treasury Notes 0.125%, Due 1/15/2030 | TII | $12.10M | 4.46% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $9.97M | 3.67% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $9.92M | 3.65% |
| U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Notes 1.75%, Due 01/15/2034 | TII | $5.28M | 1.95% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| HUSSMAN STRATEGIC ALLOCATION FUND · HSAFX | 29% | 1.29% |
| Goldman Sachs Inflation Protected Securities Fund · GSAPX, GSCFX, GSIPX, GSRPX, GSTPX, GSRUX, GGJPX | 26% | 0.33% |
| Empower Inflation-Protected Securities Fund · MXIOX, MXIHX | 26% | 0.35% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Hussman Strategic Advisors, Inc. | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of October 24, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
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