Investec Asset Management is planning to launch a UCITS-compliant global equity contrarian fund
Investec Asset Management is planning to launch a UCITS-compliant global equity contrarian fund which will mirror its current UK-domiciled Global Special Situations fund, reported Citywire Global this week. The Investec GSF Global Contrarian Equity Fund will be the latest edition to the firm’s Lux-domiciled suite of global strategy funds and is to be co-managed by Alastair Mundy (pictured), who heads up the firm’s contrarian team, and portfolio manager Mark Wynne-Jones. The aim is to replicate the contrarian strategy used in the Global Special Situations fund, which strives for outperformance with relatively low volatility and low correlation. Contrarian investors are characterized by their willingness not to follow the herd mentality and take an opposite – hence contrarian view – on markets. The Investec contrarian approach uses a bottom-up approach, applying rigorous analysis to identify underperforming stocks which present potentially favourable risk/return ratios. Wynne-Jones was quoted as saying: “Our contrarian investment process is all about doing something different. We go against the herd to make long-term investments in cheap, out-of-favour companies with appropriate balance sheets.” It seems to be working. Over the past three years, the Investec Global Special Situations fund has returned 42.94 per cent.
