AXA Investment Managers have decided to tap into the burgeoning alternative UCITS market by launching a fund of single
AXA Investment Managers have decided to tap into the burgeoning alternative UCITS market by launching a fund of single strategy “newcits” funds. Entitled the AXA World Fund Multi Alpha, it will select managers running alternative UCITS strategies based on their ability to generate alpha and provide timely liquidity – the typical criteria of UCITS III-compliant funds is to offer daily/weekly liquidity provisions to investors. The AXA SICAV holding the fund will provide weekly liquidity. All due diligence during manager screening will be conducted internally by the AXA IM team. Core fund allocations are expected to revolve around equity l/s (the easiest onshore replication strategy), global macro and CTA strategies. AXA IM’s global head of AXA Fund of Hedge Funds, Chris Manser (pictured), said the reason for launching the FoFs was to give investors access to the growing number of newcits strategies with the benefit of built-in diversification provided by a FoFs. “It can be challenging for investors to access hedge fund talent and capture consistent absolute returns,” said Manser. “The depth of experience within our team means we can identify and access managers that have a proven track record with traditional offshore funds and can demonstrate their ability to maintain similar sources of alpha under a UCITS structure.” The fund is currently only available in Luxembourg.
