Former Liontrust Tortoise fund managers Matthew Smith and Tom Morris have launched their new hedge fund, QSM Capital, which aims to differentiate itself by offering a blend of traditional and alternative investment strategies, accoridng to a report by CityWire.

The QSM Global Equity Long/Short fund, starting with $45m in seed capital, aims for positive returns in all market conditions over five years through long and synthetic short positions in equities. The fund charges an annual fee of 1.2% and a 20% performance fee above a central bank rate hurdle.

Smith and Morris, who joined Liontrust through its acquisition of Majedie Asset Management in 2022, left the firm in June last year and founded QSM in February. They are joined by former Majedie operations chief, Rob De La Mare.

Since their departure, Liontrust's Tortoise fund strategy has struggled, with the UK-based fund closing and the Irish-domiciled fund's size dropping significantly. Samantha Gleave and James Inglis-Jones initially replaced Smith and Morris but have been succeeded by Mark Hawtin and David Goodman from GAM.