BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has launched the Parvest Global Equity Absolute Return Strategy (Parvest GEARS), a sub-fund of the Parvest UCITS V SICAV registered under Luxembourg law.
With equity valuations considered expensive at current market levels on a range of measures, many investors are increasingly looking for absolute return strategies that have a low correlation with underlying markets and have the ability to generate alpha regardless of market direction.
Parvest GEARS is an absolute return equity strategy with daily liquidity that targets positive returns through the market cycle. It aims to deliver performance primarily by capturing stock selection alpha, offering exposure to rising markets as well as being able to generate positive returns in the event of a correction.
Parvest GEARS is managed by BNPP AM’s Global Equity team, headed by Simon Roberts (pictured), BNPP AM’s CIO of Global Equities. The team is very well-established, with several members having worked together prior to joining BNPP AM, managing similar strategies for more than 10 years. The team uses a bottom-up stock selection approach based on rigorous fundamental analysis to identify stocks that offer financial sustainability at a reasonable price, as companies with sustainably high returns on capital are expected to outperform the market over the longer term. Short positions are likely to exhibit inverse characteristics.
Simon Roberts says: “We are very pleased to have launched Parvest Global Equity Absolute Return Strategy, which capitalises on the Global Equity team’s considerable experience of working together managing money and risk through different market cycles and conditions, as well as leveraging BNP Paribas Asset Management’s extensive global network of equity investment professionals. Our experience of managing similar strategies and our ability to demonstrate that we can protect capital and generate alpha in a range of market environments is attractive to investors looking for diversification and to avoid market fluctuations. With the appetite for UCITS-compliant absolute return products continuing to strengthen, Parvest GEARS enables a wider range of investors to access our strategy and investment processes.”
