Matrix has launched its second Ucits III fund, the Matrix Lazard Opportunities Fund.
The fund is managed by Matrix Money Management, which has appointed Lazard Asset Management as its sub investment manager.
The Lazard Asset Management team, headed by Sean Reynolds, aims to achieve absolute returns through a combination of capital appreciation and income.
The fund’s strategy seeks to generate returns through two sub-strategies: convertible arbitrage and special situations/event driven investing.
The strategy aims to take advantage of situations where the team believes a security’s price diverges from its expected value and aims to provide superior risk-adjusted returns when compared to broad equity and credit benchmarks.
The fund can invest across a broad range of a company’s securities – bonds, convertibles, equities, credit derivatives – and it can go both long and short via derivatives.
Reynolds says: "Matrix Group has developed a strong reputation for distributing absolute return focused products into the UK retail marketplace. The Matrix Lazard Opportunities Fund provides a unique vehicle for investors seeking an on-shore regulated fund that uses our convertible arbitrage and special situations, event-driven investment approach.
“The investment team believes that the recent stock market sell-off has dramatically increased the strategy’s opportunity, especially in shorter dated credit securities offering attractive equity exposure. The team’s expertise in this area should significantly differentiate us from the competition."
Chris Merry (pictured), chief executive of Matrix Group, adds: “I am delighted to be teaming up with Lazard Asset Management to launch our second Ucits III fund following the launch last month of the Matrix Asia Ucitss Fund. Sean Reynolds and his team have an outstanding track record. Stuart Ratcliff, chief investment officer of our in-house investment team, has invested in the Lazard Rathmore Fund, the hedge fund on which the new Ucits Fund will be modelled, on behalf of our own funds of hedge funds. They first invested in July 2009 and over the period from investment to the end of May 2010 the fund has produced performance of 29.2 per cent. The Ucits Fund will now make Sean’s investment expertise accessible to a much broader investor base.”
