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Invesco PowerShares to list actively managed ETF on Nasdaq… HFR Asset Management launches Advent Global Opportunity Strategy…

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HFR Asset Management this week announced the launch of the Advent Global Opportunity Strategy under the HFR Umbrella UCITS Fund plc, domiciled in Ireland and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland on 1 April. It is the first in a series of funds to launch on the platform.

The HFR UCITS Platform provides investment managers with a turnkey solution for launching their full investment strategy in a UCITS-compliant fund. Institutional investors gain exposure to a manager’s full investment strategy and receive all the benefits of the HFR Managed Account Platform, including daily risk management, performance estimates, ongoing due diligence, fund administration, and custom reporting.
 
Odell Lambroza, portfolio manager to the Advent Global Opportunity Strategy, was quoted as saying: “The ability to deploy our ‘best ideas’ strategy through highly liquid exposure to the markets is well-timed as we continue to identify unique events and catalyst driven situations across the capital structure in seeking attractive and uncorrelated returns.”
 
The HFR UCITS Platform covers multiple strategies including long/short equity and credit, relative value arbitrage, global macro and event-driven. In addition to the HFR UCITS Advent Global Opportunity Strategy Fund, HFR is launching:
 

  • HFR UCITS MidOcean Credit Absolute Return Strategy Fund, a US focused long/short credit non-directional strategy;
  • HFR UCITS Kovitz New Millennium Fundamental Hedged Equity Strategy Fund, a US focused long/short equity strategy;
  • HFR UCITS Tiger Nezu Strategy Fund, an Asia focused long/short equity strategy; and
  • HFR UCITS Value Partners Hedge Strategy Fund, a Greater China focused long/short equity strategy

 
An additional five funds are in the pipeline, including HFR UCITS Symphony Long/Short Credit Strategy Fund, a US focused long/short directional credit strategy.
 
Union Bancaire Privée plans to launch a UCITS version of one of its existing hedge funds reported Fundweb this week. Jean-Luc Eyssautier, UBP head of long-only UK sales, commented: “We have a hedge fund called the Discretionary Global Macro fund, which is going to soft close at GBP1bn. We were able to offer this to the institutional market but now we are opening the UCITS version in June.” 
 
The Luxembourg-domiciled fund will be managed by Ashwin Vasan from Trend Capital Management. It follows the recent launch by UBP of the UBAM Equity Flex fund, which is a new strategy and not replicating an existing hedge fund.
 
“We are using the capability of a European equity portfolio management team and a volatility overlay team based in Paris. The objective is to capture the rise of equity markets but protect on the downside. I think this will be attractive as bond yields will be low,” Eyssautier was quoted as saying.
 
In further fund launch news, Jupiter has rolled out the Jupiter US Small & Midcap Companies Fund, a UCITS-compliant unit trust managed by Robert Siddles. Siddles has 27 years’ experience covering US equities. He joined Jupiter at the start of 2014 from F&C, where he managed over GBP500mn in assets.
 
The fund’s objective is to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio made up primarily of quoted US small- and mid-sized companies. To achieve this, Siddles will draw on a universe of around 3,000 US stocks with a market capitalisation ranging from GBP100mn to GBP5bn. The fund will typically hold between 50 and 75 stocks.

 
“The US small and midcap sector has had a strong run of late but these gains reflect the potential growth prospects and good long-term outlook for the American economy. Small cap share valuations remain well below their 2000 peak and there are still many companies which, in my view, have the ability to perform,” said Siddles, who favours two types of value-oriented stocks:
 

 

  • Companies which, in his view, are able to reliably grow their earnings over long periods.
 

  • Companies which are held for short-term recovery, typically over two to three years. These are stocks where the share price has fallen significantly.

 
John Chatfeild-Roberts, chief investment officer at Jupiter, commented: “The US Small and Midcap Companies Fund is a welcome addition to our fund range. He will be working alongside established Jupiter manager Sebastian Radcliffe, who focuses very much on large-cap US stocks. Robert’s small-cap expertise adds breadth to our overall investment proposition.”
 
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management, a leading US ETF provider, is to list the PowerShares Multi-Strategy Alternative Portfolio (LALT) on 29 May on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The fund is an actively managed ETF designed to help investors achieve lower portfolio volatility and enhance risk-adjusted returns.
 

 
"One of the primary goals for investors that use alternative strategies is to minimise exposure to equity and bond markets, and to achieve better risk-adjusted returns compared to portfolios consisting only of traditional asset classes," said Dan Draper, Invesco PowerShares managing director of global ETFs. "LALT is an actively managed long-short strategy that seeks to provide efficient exposure to a broad mix of alternative-asset classes.”
 
“Morgan Stanley has an established platform of proprietary liquid alternative indices across asset classes," said Nikki Tippins, managing director, head of Americas equity derivatives distribution. "The Morgan Stanley Multi-Strategy Alternative Index is designed to combine such strategies that seek to offer attractive risk-adjusted returns with low correlation to traditional asset classes. We're delighted to provide this benchmark for such an original ETF."
 

 
Invesco Advisers, the sub-adviser to the fund, selects investments for inclusion in the fund's portfolio with reference to the components of the Morgan Stanley Multi-Strategy Alternative Index using a quantitative process that seeks to exceed the benchmark's performance.

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