Altana Wealth is opening the Altana Distressed Assets Fund (ADAF) managed by founder and CIO Lee Robinson, to outside investors.
Robinson has a 14 year audited track record of managing money successfully particularly in bear markets and he has personally invested over USD20 million of his own money in ADAF.
Robinson says: “ADAF aims to protect investor capital by profiting from unloved, or distressed assets that are in forced selling situations, fundamentally undervalued or trading at low multiples of mid cycle earnings. Given that the lowest multiples are currently in Europe and the continent is entering a seismic economic change, I would initially expect European corporates to form the bulk of the portfolio.”
Robinson, who over a 10 year period has one of the best audited trading histories in finance, making over 300% during that period, is widely acclaimed for having predicted the credit crisis of 2008 and successfully positioning his funds (the Trafalgar Catalyst Fund and Special Situations) for the downturn. As a result he won a number of awards and industry and investor acknowledgement. He subsequently positioned his investments to profit from the Sovereign Credit Crisis and founded Altana Wealth, which now has three funds open to external investors. Petershill, the private equity vehicle managed by Goldman Sachs, recently announced that it had taken a 19.99% stake in Altana’s parent company, Altana Funds Limited.
‘Market volatility has been and will continue to be high, particularly as the recession worsens and defaults begin,” says Robinson. “We will be opportunistic so at times we may be long cash and at times 200% gross. ADAF will invest in a diversified portfolio of equities and distressed bonds in companies, which we believe have strong long term prospects but that are short term out of favour. Although I am bearish about current economic conditions, I believe there are great opportunities to invest now. So you could categorise me as bearish, but with bullish outcomes!”
ADAF’s strategy will be to protect investors’ wealth (a common Altana theme) via a variety of investment techniques, proven effective over 20 years of strategic portfolio management. The fund will enhance returns by taking advantage of option and CDS protection to define downside risk and despite an initial focus on Europe it will monitor global markets, as other regions and nations will suffer and so other distressed opportunities will arise.
‘‘ADAF is the ideal opportunity for a prudent investor to take advantage of current market turmoil, providing potential diversification benefits to a portfolio,” says Robinson. “The stock market has already given up over 40% twice in the last decade. This fund offers an inflation hedge via growth in earnings, seeking to provide valuable diversification whilst giving exposure to real assets and generating ideas. Economic conditions are currently stressed but Europe will exist in the future and has many world class multinational corporates. We aim to take advantage of longer term valuations given short term price volatility.’’
