The Perella Weinberg North American Equity Long Short Fund is to launch on the Fidante Partners Liquid Strategies UCITS platform in May, subject to regulatory approval. It will be managed by Perella Weinberg Partners Capital Management (Perella Weinberg).
The new fund combines a long short equity strategy with an event driven portfolio to provide diversification and enhance returns. This is the second fund to join the Fidante Partners Liquid Strategies platform, following the launch in July last year of the Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy Fund managed by Wadhwani Asset Management LLP.
The long short portfolio typically holds between 30 and 50 positions on the long side and between 20 and 30 positions on the short side. The event driven portfolio will typically have between 10 and 20 positions in announced, hard catalyst transactions and will normally represent between 25 and 60 per cent of the overall gross exposure of the fund. The portfolio invests in large and mid-cap stocks.
The Fund’s objective is to achieve positive returns whilst maintaining a low net exposure to equity markets, which typically ranges between -10 per cent and +35 per cent. It is targeting a return of 8-10 per cent per annum (net of fees) with a volatility target of 6-8 per cent per annum.
The fund is managed by a team of four led by David Baker, a 30-year industry veteran who has overseen the strategy since inception in 2005, producing positive returns in each of the last eleven calendar years.
David Baker (pictured), Portfolio Manager of the Perella Weinberg North American Equity Long Short Fund, says: “By combining a core equity long short portfolio with an opportunistic event driven portfolio, we are aiming to generate strong risk-adjusted returns in a range of market conditions. Maintaining a low net exposure to equity markets has the additional benefit of giving the portfolio a low correlation to the market, thereby reducing risk. Our strategy has performed well since its launch. We believe this reflects the combination of a fundamental approach to stock selection and an active trading overlay, which aims to generate alpha in long and short portfolios as well as the event driven.
“We are pleased to be working with Fidante Partners to bring our investment strategy to UK and European investors.”
Magnus Spence, Head of Product at Fidante Partners, says: “European investors are increasingly focussed on investing in strategies which have low correlations to equity markets. David and his team have a proven record of producing strong risk-adjusted returns in a range of market conditions while maintaining a low net exposure. At a time when equities are approaching all-time highs in spite of ongoing economic and political uncertainty, we believe this fund will be a valuable addition to investors’ portfolios. As such we are excited to be working with Perella Weinberg.”
The Fund will have daily liquidity and will carry a management fee of 1.0 per cent and a performance fee of 17.5 per cent. For those investors who subscribe to the fund within the first month following launch, the management fee and performance fee will be reduced to 0.75 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
The Fund will be primarily marketed to institutional and wholesale investors. The Fund will not be marketed to retail investors.
