King & Shaxson have launched the King & Shaxson Premier Fund. The fund, managed by industry veteran Alan Brunsden, is aimed at institutions and high net worth individuals. The firm says the fund is the first of many new initiatives in the pipeline.
“The King & Shaxson Premier Fund benefits from the extensive knowledge and experience in the UK equity market of its manager, Alan Brunsden,” says Tom McIntosh, King & Shaxson’s CIO. “The UK equity market, despite its apparent maturity, leaves many opportunities and inefficiencies, which a talented fund manager can exploit to the benefit of his customers. Alan’s past performance record gives me a great deal of confidence that he can successfully seek these out.”
The Fund concentrates on a UK equity long/short strategy with a fundamental bias, and will trade in all main UK markets including the AIM market. The minimum investment is £100,000, while the fund charges a management fee of 1.5% and a performance fee of 20%
The fund is domiciled in the Cayman Islands; it is quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange and offers monthly redemptions with 30 days notice.
“We will combine short term trading and medium term investment opportunities, building on my own experience and contacts, backed up by the investment expertise within the King & Shaxson team,” says Brunsden.
Brunsden, who is now Director of Fund Management at King & Shaxson, began his investment career in the early 70s as an equity analyst with Pinchin Denny and then Spencer Thornton. In 1977, he was employed by the British Gas Pension Fund before moving to TSB Fund Managers (subsequently Lloyds TSB) in 1981. From August 1997 he managed the Scottish Widows Environmental Fund prior to joining BFS Investments plc in 2000 where he was promoted to Chief Investment Officer and Head of UK Equities.
He works alongside Mark Amery, a UK equity manager, and is responsible for the management of KSAM’s first hedge fund. This will be an absolute return UK equity fund open to pension funds, other institutions and individuals seeking positive returns in most market conditions.
Brunsden has a degree in Economics from London University and is an Associate of AIMR.
King & Shaxson is a long-established City name, with a history that goes back to the mid-nineteenth century. From the middle of the 1980s, the firm has concentrated its activities in dealing in UK gilts and other bonds. In December 2003, it began a process of diversification within institutional financial services, when it acquired the former UK business of Swiss Life Asset Management (UK) Limited (SLAM), creating King & Shaxson Asset Management. SLAM had built up a strong track record in the running of institutional assets and the key members of that team remain in place in the renamed company.
The London businesses of King & Shaxson are owned by PhillipCapital, a financially strong and developing Singaporean financial services company. PhillipCapital employs around 3,000 people worldwide, with its major interests in Singapore, Hong Kong and other regions of the Far East. The development of London is an important element in PhillipCapital’s global growth plan.