FUND LAUNCHES: October fund launches review

We profile some of the most interesting fund launches in recent weeks and examine the performance of a product already on the market.

EMERGING EQUITY
Man GLG, the discretionary investment management business of Man Group, has launched an unconstrained emerging equity strategy. Focusing on the long term, the strategy will aim to generate returns above the MSCI Emerging Markets Free Index through a portfolio that includes value, quality, momentum and macro styles. 

The managers will look for emerging market securities that are mispriced on a long-term cashflow-dervied valuation basis. The 50 stocks will be chosen from a universe of around 300.

Man GLS fund launchThe strategy’s co-portfolio managers Simon Pickard and Edward Cole, joined Man GLG from Carmignac Gestion in May 2015. Pickard was formerly head of emerging market equities at Carmingnac, running its large and mid-cap global emerging markets strategies for the last six years, while Cole was previously a portfolio manager co-managing Carmignac’s emerging market multi-strategy portfolio.

Pickard comments: “Businesses situated in emerging markets have the opportunity to exploit considerable structural under-penetration for their goods and services. This opportunity is undiminished by the current economic climate, and we see attractive entry points in terms of valuation.”

 

Goldman Sachs fund launchABSOLUTE RETURN
Following the demand from investors for funds that aim to deliver specific investment outcome, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has launched the Goldman Sachs Global Absolute Return Portfolio. 

A sub-fund of the Ucits-qualifying Luxembourg-domiciled Goldman Sachs Funds Sicav,  the fund seeks to generate consistent returns that are less dependent on the direction of traditional markets. It invests across multiple asset classes and uses a dynamic asset allocation approach to help navigate changing markets. 

“Following a period of strong returns across equity and bonds, investors are increasingly looking toward absolute return strategies as a way to generate returns whilst limiting potential losses,” says Nick Phillips, head of international third party distribution for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. 

The fund is offered to both institutional and retail clients and is registered for sale across Europe.

BlackRock fund launchLIQUID ALTERNATIVES
BlackRock has launched an event-driven fund in Europe to meet growing investor demand for liquid alternative investments. The fund looks to take advantage of an attractive environment for company transactions and other corporate actions.

This product is the firm’s first Ucits-compliant event-driven fund in Europe and adds to BlackRock’s existing range of liquid alternative Ucits funds on the BSF platform. 

The firm says the product responds to investor demand for alternative, uncorrelated returns in the current climate of increased market volatility and disappointing yields from traditional equities and bonds.

The Fund is managed by Mark McKenna, global head of event-driven equity at BlackRock, who joined the firm last year from Harvard Management Company where he co-founded an event-driven strategy. He leads a team of seven who have significant experience both in corporate transaction advisory and event driven investment management.

RWC fund launchGLOBAL EMERGING MARKETS
RWC Partners’ Global Emerging Markets team will launch their first Ucits version of their emerging markets equity strategy in November this year. 

The new long-only fund will have a portfolio of around 50 stocks and will be a sub-fund of  RWC’s Ucits range that now accounts for $5.4 billion (€4.8 billion) of the company’s total $11.4 billion of assets under management, as a July 31, 2015. 

Headed up by John Malloy and James Johnstone, RWC’s Global Emerging Market team joined earlier this year from Everest Capital. The team, which has 15 members, is already managing over $1.3 billion within their Emerging Market, Frontier and Asian strategies. 

The new fund marks the first time that institutional investors will be able to access the team’s index-agnostic strategy in a Ucits-compliant format with daily liquidity.

The strategy invests across both emerging and frontier markets, with a focus on companies exhibiting strong growth characteristics that are not yet reflected in the share price. A key aspect of the strategy is its focus on opportunities that are not yet broadly followed, for example in large markets like China, or in markets with few foreign participants such as Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh. 

Jo Hambro fund launchONE YEAR ON
The Jo Hambro JOHCM US Small Mid Cap Equity Fund passed its one year anniversary in September this year.

The aim of the fund is to generate long-term capital growth through active management of a portfolio of small and mid-cap US equities. The management team take a sector-based approach, collaborating to identify cross-sector investment themes and trends, and working individually to develop investment ideas for their respective sectors. The portfolio typically contains 45-60 positions.

In August, the fund faced falls across global stock markets due to concerns over Chinese growth, but in contrast the US economy continued to make positive progress. 

The fund modestly trailed its benchmark for the month as the financials, telecommunications and consumer staples sectors struggled, but it benefited from owning Signet Jewelers, the world’s largest specialty retail jeweller, which was the largest contributor to performance.

Since launch the GBP form of the fund has returned 11.50% compared to 9.15% from the benchmark, the Russell Index 2500 (net dividends reinvested), and 5.20% compared to 4.09% for the USD class.

©2015 funds europe

HAVE YOU READ?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The tension between urgency and inaction will continue to influence sustainability discussions in 2024, as reflected in the trends report from S&P Global.
FIND OUT MORE
This white paper outlines key challenges impeding the growth of private markets and explores how technological innovation can provide solutions to unlock access to private market funds for a growing…
DOWNLOAD NOW

CLOUD DATA PLATFORMS

Luxembourg is one of the world’s premiere centres for cross-border distribution of investment funds. Read our special regional coverage, coinciding with the annual ALFI European Asset Management Conference.
READ MORE

PRIVATE MARKETS FUND ADMIN REPORT

Private_Markets_Fund_Admin_Report

LATEST PODCAST