Deutsche Bank and Winton Capital Management have launched a Ucits III compliant version of Winton’s flagship Diversified Program.
The Ucits III fund, called the DB Platinum IV dbX Systematic Alpha Index Fund, will be launched on Deutsche Bank’s Platinum platform and is linked to the performance of the dbX Systematic Alpha Index.
The index, whose components are selected by Winton, reflects exposure to approximately 100 global exchange-traded futures, forwards and options markets on commodities (including energies, base and precious metals and crops), equity indices, bonds, short-term interest rates and currencies.
The strategy is primarily trend-following, attempting to take advantage of the observable tendency of the markets to trend and to move in both upward and downward directions.
The Winton Diversified Program has experienced an annualised return of 17.07 per cent from its inception in October 1997 to end May 2010. The Winton strategy is focused on scientific research into financial markets which is led by the company’s founder David Harding and supported by approximately 90 researchers located in London, Oxford, Cambridge and Hong Kong.
Investors in the Ucits III Fund will benefit from the provision of weekly liquidity with fund NAVs published on Reuters, Bloomberg and online. The fund will be available in EUR, GBP, USD and JPY and intends to apply for reporting fund status in respect of the GBP share class.
Stephane Farouze, Deutsche Bank’s global head of fund derivatives, says: “We have seen a surge in the growth of investors’ desire to invest via the more liquid Ucits and managed account products and therefore continue to work with leading hedge fund managers to bring their expertise onto our platform. Winton’s long standing success will make this particular product attractive to investors wanting to access the returns of a leading managed futures hedge fund in a Ucits III format.”
David Harding (pictured), founder and managing director of Winton Capital Management, adds: “By providing our trading strategy in a Ucits III format we will be able to diversify our investor base. We have chosen to work with Deutsche Bank because of their extensive operational and risk management experience as well as the broad distribution network the bank provides for its platform.”
