New Zealand-based quant manager Pure Capital has entered the UK institutional and wholesale market with the launch of The Pure Protection Fund, a structured fund aimed at providing protection to portfolios during equity bear markets whilst maintaining or improving returns in bull market environments.
"The only thing that is sure to rise in a bear market is correlation, and this is a complex problem for investment managers, even those with well diversified portfolios," said Anthony Limbrick, chief investment officer of Pure Capital. "At Pure, our focus is on targeted non-correlated returns, and this lies at the core of The Pure Protection Fund - our new institutional grade product."
According to Pure Capital, the new fund will use only liquid and listed derivatives on recognised exchanges (mainly equity index and commodity derivative products). Pure Capital said it has been running a similar strategy via a managed accounts structure since 2007, which has generated cash returns of 79% in 2008 and 21% year to date in 2009.
The US dollar-denominated fund is being registered as a Channel Islands Stock Exchange-listed product, and will be distributed by Argyll Investment Services Limited, a Guernsey-based asset manager with more than $200m AUM.
Pure Capital also announced it is in the process of developing a presence in London. The sales objective for the new fund is $500m, and it will start trading on 1 July 2009.