The Dublin-domiciled Ucits III fund has a net absolute return objective of 12-15% per year. It will be managed by Sushil Wadhwani, founder and CEO of London-based Wadhwani Asset Management and member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England from 1999 to 2002.
Wadhwani, whose approach is deeply rooted in Keynesian economics, says he will combine momentum indicators with macro influences so as to enhance returns relative to other trading strategies.
The strategies employ a multi-tiered approach to risk management where risk control is embedded within the systematic models and risk positions are also continuously monitored and analysed by the firm’s risk committee and research team.
It claims that the original offshore versions of these strategies have outperformed global equity markets by more than 8% a year over the last five years, with significantly lower drawdowns.
Wadhwani said: “Human nature gives too much weight to recent events, and clings to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. Our current economic and market outlook suggests macro uncertainty, which can create a ‘herding’ effect among investors.
“It is important to know when to run with the herd and when to break away before it has a chance to stampede. Our quantitative models enable emotion to be removed from the decision-making process and can therefore exploit mispricings resulting from behavioural biases.”
Minimum investment in the fund is set at $10,000, though it is also available in sterling, euro and Swiss franc denominations.
Meanwhile, OBSR has withdrawn the GAM Star Continental European Equity fund from the Service. The fund previously held an A rating. OBSR suspended the rating when the manager, John Bennett, announced his departure in June 2009. Niall Gallagher, joined GAM in November 2009 from T Rowe Price to manage the fund and OBSR will continue to monitor the fund and the manager’s progress, but has decided that for now the fund’s rating will be removed.
