GAM, the investment manager owned by Swiss private bank Julius Baer, has announced the launch of GAM Eclectic, a global equity long/short fund.
GAM, the investment manager owned by Swiss private bank Julius Baer, has announced the launch of GAM Eclectic, a global equity long/short fund.
The fund will target absolute returns in all market conditions with low correlation to equity markets and low volatility.
The manager will invest in themes and companies where he identifies a sizeable difference between market value and intrinsic value.
The fund will also focus on stocks and themes that are well positioned to benefit from major change and/or innovation.
Mark Hawtin, investment director of GAM Eclectic, says: ‘The recent performance of hedge funds has left many investors disappointed with returns as they had hoped these strategies would protect them from major market drawdowns. I am looking forward to launching a product that embodies much of what hedge funds traditionally stood for where hedging out of market risk is considered just as important as the need to generate absolute returns.’
David Solo, group chief Executive officer, adds: ‘A key strength of Mark’s investment strategy is his flexibility. Adopting an eclectic investment style is about making use of the best elements of all systems and ensuring that the balance between fundamentals and trading are managed according to the market environment. Mark successfully applied this appropriately flexible approach to achieve low correlation, absolute returns during his time at Marshall Wace, where he managed one of Europe’s largest technology, media and telecoms funds.’
GAM Eclectic will open to investment on 1 February, 2009 for a limited time.
