Janus Henderson has launched a global multi-strategy fund to offer investors diversified exposure to alternative assets.
The fund house announced yesterday (June 3) it had launched the Janus Henderson Global Multi-Strategy fund, managed by David Elms and Stephen Cain, to draw on Janus Henderson’s experience in multi-strategy investing.
It will primarily be sold in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America to both advisers and institutional investors.
The fund aims to offer investors diversified exposure to alternative assets while seeking to minimise risk through the use of portfolio protection strategies.
It invests in a range of asset classes including equities, fixed income, derivatives and commodities, across a set of investment strategies.
Its primary objective is to deliver positive absolute returns, regardless of market conditions, over any 12-month period.
Fees are either 1.5 or 1 per cent dependent on share class and there is a 20 per cent performance fee.
Portfolio manager Mr Elms said: “Diversification works well in up markets but is unreliable in down markets, like March 2020, when investor panic and liquidation induces correlation and all risk assets fall in a synchronised manner.
“We address this issue by running a diversified set of protection strategies that aim to provide positive returns in down markets and are the mirror image of the diversified ‘risk on’ strategies we use to generate returns in normal markets.”
Tom Sparke, investment manager at GDIM, thought it was an “interesting offer”. He said: “Timing-wise, with equities enjoying a strong recovery, bonds riding high and other alternatives like property not an option at the moment, this could provide an element of genuine diversification to portfolios.
“Funds of this type have had a mixed performance in recent years so it will be interesting to see how this one develops.”
Mr Sparke added there was a “wealth of expertise and experience” behind the fund and that it would be “one to keep an eye on”, but noted performance fees were a contentious issue for many investors.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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