Altana Wealth, the investment management group launched by hedge fund manager Lee Robinson, has launched a distribution share class for the Altana Hard Currency Fund (AHCF).

The distribution share class will pay four per cent annually by means of capital redemptions.

It has been created in response to demand from investors who are looking for alternative methods to offset their recurring liabilities, whilst simultaneously seeking capital growth. Traditional instruments which have served this purpose in the past, such as government bonds, now have very low (and in some cases negative) yields.  
 
Seeded with USD25m of Robinson's own money, the AHCF, which now has a two-year track record, seeks to help counter the destructive effect of inflation and to protect the real value of investor’s wealth by optimally investing in a diversified group of hard currencies. This approach lies at the core of Altana Wealth's founding wealth-preservation concept.
 
This will be achieved with a diversified portfolio of short-dated T-Bills, denominated in currencies that are expected to strengthen against the traditional reserve currencies.  Furthermore, Altana is seeking to enhance returns by actively trading around the long term positions of the portfolio to take advantage of short term currency trends. 
 
The fund provides diversification benefits to a standard sovereign portfolio and offers a potential inflation hedge via the avoidance of weaker money printing currencies. 
 
Bank counterparty risk is mitigated by maintaining exposure to preferred currencies via T-Bills of strong sovereigns (rather than in cash accounts at banks) and by using bankruptcy-remote vehicles.

Ian Gunner, portfolio manager of the Altana Hard Currency Fund, says: "A combination of macro factors make the AHCF an attractive prospect for those seeking to diversify from a standard sovereign portfolio. The currencies of debtor nations will be threatened by the policies that are required to correct underlying fiscal imbalances as well as the risk of further central bank money printing. Such countries face a significant risk of lower economic growth, lower rates of return and reduced demand for their currencies. The currencies of ‘harder’ creditor nations should benefit over time as a result. We believe that this is an exceptional investor opportunity for anyone who earns income from or holds wealth in any of the main reserve currencies.”