Alternative UCITS funds continued to pare back gains made in the first two months of the year.
Alternative UCITS funds continued to pare back gains made in the first two months of the year. Alix Capital’s UCITS Alternative Index Global fell 0.47 per cent in April leaving it up 1.27 per cent YTD. This follows similar losses of 0.49 per cent in March. Aside from CTA strategies, which ended the month flat, Volatility strategies were the only winners in a tough month performance-wise, gaining a modest 0.37 per cent to leave them up 0.70 per cent for the year. Although losses, across the board, were fairly minor the primary laggard was the Fund of Funds Index, falling 0.75 per cent to leave it down 0.39 per cent for the first third of 2012. Macro and Event-Driven strategies fared little better, recording losses of 0.73 per cent and 0.71 per cent respectively. Emerging Markets, down 0.33 per cent in April, remains the most successful strategy in 2012 with YTD gains of 4.09 per cent, followed by Fixed Income (1.98 per cent) and Long/Short Equity (1.87 per cent). The UAIX series of single strategy indices also recorded losses last month, most notably UAIX Long/Short Equity which fell 2.12 per cent. However, YTD these strategies are in better shape: at the bottom of the range is UAIX CTA (1.75 per cent), with UAIX Volatility leading the way, up 4.13 per cent YTD.
Finally, Ignis Asset Management is preparing to launch a global absolute return bond fund for one of its leading managers reported Citywire Global. The Lux-domiciled Ignis Absolute Credit fund is due to launch this summer subject to regulatory approval and will be managed by Chris Bowie, the firm’s head of credit. This marks Bowie’s first foray into the world of alternative UCITS. Bowie said the firm believed the timing of the launch was “pertinent” given the headwinds facing traditional long-only credit investments. To that end, the new fund will invest globally in investment grade and high yield debt securities through liquid credit default swaps – in essence insurance contracts on the underlying instruments – and will look for relative value opportunities by exploiting price differentials via pairs trading (going long and short on securities in the same sector). “Eurozone weakness, low bank creditworthiness, poor economic data and inflationary pressures are real concerns, and at the very least we are forecasting a prolonged period of volatility for credit markets,” said Bowie. “Given this backdrop, I, and other members of the team, will be personally investing in the fund from launch. We believe the future is in the absolute return space and we think credit is the next one to exploit.”
