Eventide Funds Announces 2015 Results, Provides Outlook for 2016

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - March 01, 2016) - Eventide Funds announced 2015 results for the Eventide Gilead Fund (NASDAQ: ETGLX) (NASDAQ: ETAGX) (NASDAQ: ETCGX) (NASDAQ: ETILX), Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund (NASDAQ: ETNHX) (NASDAQ: ETAHX) (NASDAQ: ETCHX) (NASDAQ: ETIHX), and new Multi-Asset Income Fund (NASDAQ: ETAMX) (NASDAQ: ETCMX) (NASDAQ: ETNMX) (NASDAQ: ETIMX).

The Eventide Gilead Fund Class N Shares ended 2015 with a return of -2.15% for the year compared to the Russell Midcap Growth Total Return Index return of -0.20% and the S&P 500 Total Return Index return of 1.38%. The Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund Class N Shares gained 14.93% compared to the Healthcare Blended Index return of 14.90% and S&P 500 Total Return Index return of 1.38%. Since inception date of July 15, 2015, the Multi-Asset Income Fund Class N Shares returned -1.83% compared to the Multi-Asset Income Blended Index return of -3.45% and MSCI ACWI (net) Index return of -6.17%.

The Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund was awarded "Category King" by the Wall Street Journal for 2015, for the one-year period ending December 31, 2015 in the Health and Biotech category. The award honors the top ten funds in each category for total return. The Fund ranked #4 out of 88 Health and Biotech funds in 2015.

Full performance of the Funds is available in the tables below.

The performance data quoted here represents past performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted above. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Please review the Funds' prospectus for more information regarding the Funds' fees and expenses. Eventide Gilead Fund, Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund, and Eventide Multi-Asset Income Fund performance shown is for Class N shares (please see a prospectus for information about other share classes). For performance information current to the most recent month-end, please call toll-free 877-771-EVEN (3836).

Eventide Gilead Fund expenses: Total Expenses 1.38%. Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund expenses: Total Expenses 1.52%. The Eventide Multi-Asset Income Fund expenses: Gross Expenses, 1.53%; Net Expenses, 1.23%. For the Eventide Multi-Asset Income Fund the advisor has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses of the Fund through 31 October 2016. The agreement may only be terminated by the Fund's Board of Trustees on 60 days' written notice.

Commenting on 2015, Eventide portfolio managers said the broad-market indexes delivered essentially a flat year, but with notable divergence of performance among individual stocks. Pointing to the S&P 500 as an example, the managers noted that larger capitalization stocks carried the Index's 1.38% return in 2015: the largest 50 stocks in the Index were up 1.5%, while the smallest 50 stocks were down 11.9%. Excluding the 'FANG' stocks -- Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google - the S&P 500 was down 4.8% in 2015. "It is important to remember that index holdings are not given equal weights in the composition of the index, but larger companies comprise larger weightings in the index composition, to reflect their size in the markets. As a result, headline index returns can mask a lot of underlying carnage within the indexes. In 2015, we saw a rotation away from risk to larger names, a trend that adversely affected the performance of the Eventide Gilead Fund, which seeks to invest in small- and mid-cap companies with higher growth potential," said Eventide CIO Finny Kuruvilla, MD PhD.

"2016 has opened with very broad-based selling, inundating even larger names, though still disproportionately hitting on the smaller end of the capitalization spectrum, and in growth areas of the market such as Technology and Biotechnology," said Dr. Kuruvilla. He added, "Biotechnology is experiencing its worst selloff in history, surpassing the magnitude of decline during the 2008-2009 financial crisis."

Eventide's outlook for 2016, however, is not fully aligned with the recent selloff. Dr. Finny Kuruvilla said that the current commodity and industrial recession does not yet appear to be pulling down the whole economy. "Debt is low, the consumer is healthy, and employment remains strong," he said. "Once oil and gas stabilize, lower prices will be a boon to consumers." Unless the industrial sector recession spills into the broader economy, Dr. Kuruvilla said, "Recent stock market declines have created opportunities for those who can be selective and long term."

Eventide adjusts its portfolios according to its outlook, which it determines according to three criteria: leading economic indicators, valuation, and sentiment. "Leading indicators remain positive," said Dr. Kuruvilla. "Looking at a basket of metrics, valuations are now below fair value, and sentiment is extremely poor -- a contrarian positive investment signal." Dr. Kuruvilla said, "The S&P 500 historically has rallied after a non-recessionary correction. With respect to positioning, we continue to monitor the leading indicators carefully. Unless those roll over, we will keep portfolios positioned for the typical rebound that occurs post-correction. Our risk-management approach is to rely on a wide range of rigorous data, and to position our portfolios for long-term success."

Eventide's Multi-Asset Income Fund has also adjusted to respond to opportunities caused by current volatile market conditions. Portfolio Manager Martin Wildy said, "We remain focused on investing in securities that we believe have the ability to pay their dividend or interest obligations regardless of the market environment. We view this volatility as an opportunity for income investors with a long time horizon to acquire attractive assets at discounted prices."

"Amid current market turmoil, Eventide remains focused on the long term. We look for companies that are creating value on a sustainable basis for their customers, employees, and others, which we believe to be the ultimate driver of long-term shareholder results," said Eventide CEO Robin John.

Wall Street Journal rankings are not intended to constitute investment advice. Rather, you should use the rankings for informational purposes only.

The S&P 500 is an index created by Standard & Poor's Corp considered to represent the performance of the stock market generally. The Russell Midcap Growth Index measures the performance of the U.S. equity mid-cap growth segment. It includes mid-cap companies with higher price-to-book ratios and forecasted growth. The MSCI World All-Country World Index (Net) captures large and mid-cap representation across 23 developed markets and 23 emerging markets. The Healthcare Blended Index is composed of equal parts of the S&P 400 Healthcare Index and the S&P 600 Healthcare Index from fund inception on 27 December, 2012. The Multi-Asset Income Blend is a proprietary Eventide benchmark based on 60% MSCI All Country World Index (Net), 40% Barcap Aggregate Bond Index at inception date July 15, 2015, rebalanced monthly. Investors cannot directly invest in an index; unmanaged index returns do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges. The Funds are not the same, nor should they be inferred as the same, as those of the indices listed. The volatility of the indices may be materially different than that of the Funds, and investors should not expect the Funds to achieve the same results as the indices listed.

Mutual Funds involve risk including the possible loss of principal. The Funds' ethical values screening criteria could cause it to underperform similar funds that do not have such screening criteria. The Funds can have risk related to option investing. There are special risks associated with investments in foreign companies including exposure to currency fluctuations, less efficient trading markets, political instability and differing auditing and legal standards.

The Eventide Gilead Fund & Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund can invest in smaller-sized companies which may experience higher failure rates than larger companies and they normally have a lower trading volume than larger companies. The Funds can also have risk associated with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in which these companies may be heavily dependent on clinical trials with uncertain outcomes and decisions made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Investors in the Eventide Multi-Asset Income Fund should be aware that the price of a fixed income security generally falls when interest rates rise. The Fund may invest in other funds. If other funds are utilized, such underlying funds are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in underlying funds and may be higher than other mutual funds that do not invest in underlying funds. The Fund may invest, directly or indirectly, in "junk bonds." Such securities are speculative investments that carry greater risks than higher quality debt securities. There are unique risks  associated with REITs, MLPs, preferred stocks, convertible bonds, BDCs, and yieldcos that are covered in the Fund's prospectus and SAI. The Fund is a new mutual fund and has a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.

The recent growth rate in the stock market has helped to produce short-term returns that are not typical and may not continue in the future. Because of ongoing market volatility, Fund performance may be subject to substantial short-term changes.

An investor should consider the Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing or sending money. This and other important information about Eventide Funds can be found in the Funds' prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. To obtain a current prospectus please call the fund, toll free at 877-771- EVEN (3836) or visit www.eventidefunds.com. Eventide Funds are distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, member FINRA, which is not affiliated with Eventide Asset Management, LLC.