fund nEWS
Cooper: senior role
Two Sarasin
subsidiaries
form new firm
based in Dubai
by DanIel JuDge
Two international subsidiaries
of Basel-based Bank
Sarasin & Co have formed
a new asset management
company in Dubai to
handle investments for
institutional investors and
high net worth individuals
in the Gulf and North
Africa regions.
Sarasin-Alpen & Partners
is a joint venture between
Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME)
of Dubai and Sarasin &
Partners, the Sarasin
group’s London-based specialist
investment management
arm. Sarasin already
has a presence in the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC)
area through the Bank
Sarasin-Alpen subsidiary
based in Dubai.
The new company will
enable Sarasin to better leverage
the international asset
management framework of
its London operation, said
Sarasin. It added the decision
to form the firm was
driven by demand from its
“increasingly sophisticated
client base throughout the
GCC and South Asia”, which
had “encouraged the group
to provide further specialised
solutions” for a complete
financial platform.
It will also look to introduce
Sharia-compliant versions
of existing and new
Sarasin funds, as well as
several structured products
offering such features as
capital protection.
Paul Cooper will be the
senior executive officer of
Sarasin-Alpen & Partners.
14
Pimco Ucits III fund set to capitalise
on changes in the investment climate
by helen burggraf
Pimco, the US-based bond
fund manager, has introduced
a Libor-plus Ucits
III-compliant fund in its
Global Investor Services
(GIS) fund range.
The launch continues
a strategy of moving into
the market for non-fixed
income investment products.
Pimco said the GIS
Global Multi-Alpha (GMA)
Fund will aim to take into
account “ongoing market
developments and economic
transformations” as
Administrators in Guernsey
70
60
40
30
$bn 50
20
10
0
Northern
Trust
Source: Lipper
Int’l Private
Equity Services
well as “a new and significant
configuration of risks”,
as a result of the recently
changed global investment
climate.
The new fund has been
in development since early
this year, according to
chief investment officer,
Mohamed El-Erian, who
heads up the management
team. He is accompanied
by Vineer Bhansali, head
of the portfolio management
analytics group, and
Curtis Mewbourne, a generalist
portfolio manager.
According to Pimco,
GAM Eclectic Fund aims to protect against downturn
GAM has launched a British
Virgin Island-domiciled
long/short fund that it
claims will succeed where
many hedge funds have
this year failed in protecting
investors from major
market downturns.
GAM Eclectic is managed
by Mark Hawtin,
GFSC report highlights impact of troubled
global markets on Guernsey fund industry
The adverse performance
of global markets during
the third quarter of 2008
contributed to a £5.8bn
(2.8%) fall in total funds
under management and
administration in Guernsey,
investment director, who
aims to find companies
fund fActS
Fund type: Offshore (bVI)
Minimum investment:
£600,000; $1m; chf1.2m
Number of holdings: 100+
the Guernsey Financial
Services Commission
(GFSC) reported.
Closed-ended and private
equity funds appear to
be weathering the market
turmoil better than some
Apax Partners
Guernsey
INTERNATIONAL ADVISER [www.international-adviser.com] DEcEmbER 2008
EQT Fund
Managers
the GMA fund reflects the
company’s outlook “across
all asset classes and risk
factors globally”.
Pimco said the investment
strategy is based on
three principles – beta
allocation or “appropriate
exposure to a mix of key
risk factor exposures”, tail
risk management and relative
value opportunities.
Tail risk is the risk investors
face that an unexpected
market crisis or other
event could occur and hit
their returns. Relative value
opportunities refers to the
where there is a “sizeable
difference between market
value and intrinsic value”.
Hawtin, who previously
managed one of Europe’s
largest telecoms, media and
technology hedge funds for
Marshall Wace, will seek to
generate absolute returns
with low correlation to
other sectors, such as
Guernsey-domiciled openended
funds, where FUM
and administration fell by
£8bn, or 10.8%, in the three
months to the end of
September, to £65.7bn, the
GFSC noted.
The quarterly decline in
open-ended funds was
partially offset by growth
elsewhere, and on a 12month
basis, the figures
showed a 22.4% rise in
total FUM and administration,
to £201.4bn.
Meanwhile, a report by
data provider Lipper has
highlighted the biggest
players in Guernsey’s funds
industry (see graph), with
Northern Trust shown as
the largest administrator
by assets.
fund fActS
Name: Pimco gIS global Multialpha
fund
Domicile: Dublin
Min invest: £10m institutional
accumulation share class or
$5,000 retail share class
Annual charge: 0.9% (instit),
discounted to 0.8% until Dec
’09; 1.8% (retail), discounted
to 1.7% until next Dec
Launch date: 18 nov ’08
buying opportunities that
can arise from short-term
market dislocations.
equity markets and low
volatility. GAM said a key
part of the strategy would
be a focus on companies
and themes positioned to
benefit from major change
or innovation “as the dispersion
of returns between
winners and losers is often
the greatest.”
Healthy 12-month
growth for fund
servicing in Jersey
Jersey’s fund servicing
industry grew by nearly
20% in the year to the end
of June, to reach $270.3bn
(£135.8bn), figures from
Lipper show
The number of funds
and sub-funds housed on
the island increased to
1,605 from 1,367 at the end
of June 2007, while KPMG
displaced Ernst & Young
as the island’s second-biggest
auditor by number of
funds, behind Pricewater-
houseCoopers.
Over five years, the
growth of the fund servicing
industry in Jersey more
than doubled, according to
Lipper, which noted that it
was worth only $102.3bn
(£57.3bn) at the end of
June 2003.
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