One of the largest independent hedge-fund managers, Man Investments, with about $38 billion under its management, is planning to launch a product in partnership with Close Fund Management that will be specifically tailored for UK investors.
It is anticipated the new fund will be launched in mid April, the company said.
“This partnership with Close Fund Management, a recognized leader in the delivery of specialist investment products, enables us to offer hedge fund returns in a format tailored to the needs of UK-based investors and to avoid the drawbacks previously associated with these products,” said James Jacklin, Regional Manager for Europe, at Man Investments said.
“The UK market is lagging behind other European markets in its take up of hedge funds but we believe this is now set to change. Recent market volatility and negative returns has led to a growing appreciation of the benefits of hedge funds in all market conditions,” Jacklin added.
The joint Man Close venture will likely be modelled on the Man Multi-Strategy Guaranteed portfolio which, with an annualized return of about 13.5% has performed independently of traditional stock and bond investments since its inception in July 2000 thereby providing valuable diversification benefits from a traditional investment portfolio.
Hedge funds are the fastest growing area in investment management, with funds managed by absolute return managers estimated to have increased by an average of 20% per annum since 1990. Total funds under management in hedge funds are estimated to total about $800 billion worldwide.
Fund of hedge funds products have been a major contributor to this growth, with a total of $280 billion being managed through the fund-of-funds style.