Launched in May of last year, the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) Fund is aimed at providing retail investors with access to an absolute return fund that uses the same advanced investment techniques available to Standard Life Investments' institutional investors.
Designed to exploit inefficiencies across markets and to maximise risk-adjusted returns from across the globe, the benchmark for GARS is the UK six-month sterling Libor, with the fund aiming to out perform by an additional 5 per cent per year gross of fees, over a rolling three-year period.
While it is still early days, if the performance of the institutional GARS Fund is anything to go by, the retail version should deliver on its promise of positive investment returns regardless of market volatility.
The fund is managed by Standard Life Investment's Multi Asset Investment Team, and according to Jacqueline Kerr, head of Mutual Fund Investments at Standard Life Investments, this allows the fund to draw on a number of core strengths, including dynamic asset allocation, derivatives management and quantitative discipline, backed by an already strong performance track record.
GARS continues to reflect the management team's defensive position, with core equity exposure hovering around 23 per cent while maintaining significant duration positions.
However, the fund is sticking to its diverse range of return-seeking strategies, which, looking at the fund's impressive performance figures has paid off in spite of last year's dire market conditions.
| STANDARD LIFE GLOBAL ABSOLUTE RETURN STRATEGIES R ACC | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PRICE | 56.29p | SHARPE RATIO | 0.2 |
| SIZE OF FUND | £761m | 3 MTH PERFORMANCE | 12.02% |
| No OF POSITIONS | 32 | 6 MTH PERFORMANCE | 18.16% |
| SET UP DATE | 7 May 2008 | 1 YR PERFORMANCE | 24.32% |
| MANAGER START DATE | 7 May 2008 | TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO | 1.61% |
| BETA | 1.86 | YIELD | 1.33 |
| VOLATILITY | 1.8 | MINIMUM INVESTMENT | £1,000.00 |
| TRACKING ERROR | 1.56 | MORE DETAILS | www.standardlifeinvestments.com |
Source: www.ft.com/funds ( 9/10/2009), Standard Life Investments
Top long/short positions
| Holding | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Medium-term European duration | 1.69% |
| Global Equity | 1.68% |
| Long-term European duration | 1.56% |
| Short UK Inflation | 1.38% |
| Financial Sector Credit | 1.14% |
| Nikkei v S&P 500 Vol Relative Value | 1.10% |
| US Equity | 1.10% |
| Long-term US duration | 1.09% |
| European Equity | 1.06% |
| Long USD v EUR | 1.04% |
Portfolio Exposure
| Segment | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Cash & Others | 33.60% |
| UK Corporate Bonds | 12.50% |
| EU Corporate Bonds | 12.30% |
| UK Equity | 9.90% |
| Global Equity | 9.70% |
| Global Index Linked Bonds | 9.20% |
| European Equity | 8.20% |
| US Equity | 4.60% |
