Merchant Capital is launching the third fund on its Ucits hedge fund platform, which is being offered to European investors ranging from pension funds to retail distribution channels.
The Merchant Global Resources Ucits Fund will employ an absolute return equity strategy with a long-biased approach to investing in global resources. The fund has targeted a launch date in October with approximately $15m (€11m) in assets under management. Initial capital was raised from a combination of European institutional and private investors.
The strategy combines a top-down thematic approach with in-depth bottom-up valuation work in order to choose the 100-150 stocks in which the fund will be invested at any one time. Investments are sector-focused, concentrating on global energy, mining, precious metals and agriculture, principally through equities but also derivative instruments and debt.
Commenting on the launch, George Cadbury, co-founder of Merchant’s Ucits umbrella, said: “This strategy is a perfect fit for a Ucits fund and will be attractive to investors because of the manager’s track record and the transparent nature of the fund structure.”
Tal Lomnitzer will manage the fund, advised by Mark Latham at Commodity Intelligence.
Lomnitzer said: “With the industrialisation and urbanisation of emerging economies we believe that the global economy has entered a ‘supercycle’ for commodities, therefore, this is a great time to launch a resources-focused strategy. A fund of this nature within the Ucits structure provided by Merchant Capital will be very well received by investors who want exposure to the resources sector with controlled volatility.”
©2010 funds europe
