Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched the Morgan Stanley Global Long/Short Fund, a fund of hedge funds that offers a diversified, institutional-quality portfolio of long/short
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched the Morgan Stanley Global Long/Short Fund, a fund of hedge funds that offers a diversified, institutional-quality portfolio of long/short equity hedge funds and is aimed at eligible individual investors and smaller institutional clients.
Morgan Stanley says the fund offers investors the opportunity to gain access to long/short hedge fund managers around the globe in a fund of funds structure with a relatively low minimum investment of USD100,000, as well as the expertise of the Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners investment team.
‘The Global Long/Short Fund offers investors the potential to capture the upside return of global equity markets while helping to reduce downside exposure,’ says Mustafa Jama, head and chief investment officer of Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners’ fund of hedge funds team. ‘As such, it may serve as an attractive alternative to long-only equity investing for those seeking to enhance the risk/reward profile of their equity portfolio.’
Characterised by a disciplined investment process, extensive due diligence and diversification by manager and geography, the Global Long/Short Fund will be managed for long-term capital appreciation and is intended to have moderate volatility compared with equity markets.
The long and short equity strategies in which the Global Long/Short Fund will primarily invest allow the underlying hedge fund managers to use leveraged or short positions to take advantage of perceived inefficiencies in global capital markets. The fund will invest in between 20 and 25 long/short equity funds.
‘Launching the Global Long/Short Fund demonstrates our continued commitment to expand and enhance our sophisticated line-up of alternative product offerings for our clients,’ says Stu Bohart, head of alternative investments for Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
‘The fund may be an attractive option for investors seeking practical entry into the long/short equity hedge fund marketplace as well as equity-like exposure with potentially less downside volatility in their portfolios.’
Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, established in April 2000, manages portfolios of hedge funds and private equity funds for institutional and high net worth individual investors. Its Absolute Return Fund, which was launched in April 2006 (followed by a version four months later for special tax status investors), had more than USD900m in net assets at the end of last year.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management had nearly 800 investment professionals worldwide and some USD597bn in assets under management at the end of November for clients including governments, institutions, corporations and individuals.
