Coupland Cardiff Asset Management, the Asia-focused investment manager with offices in London and Singapore, has launched its CC Asian Evolution Fund – a vehicle which aims to give investors direct access to Asia’s domestic growth story through the consumer sector.

The fund which is Dublin-domiciled and structured as a UCITS-compliant open-ended investment company, is long-biased and insured with long equity index puts, the firm said. The fund’s portfolio will comprise 25-40 stocks, predominantly from the small/mid-cap sector due to the relative immaturity of Asia’s consumer market.

Managing the portfolio will be Rory Dickson, who is based in Singapore and will be supported by Damian Kestel. Both joined the firm this summer, Dickson from Arisaig, where he had been head of research focusing on Asian consumer small and mid-caps, and Kestel from CLSA Securities, where he was country head of Singapore/Malaysia.

“With pan-regional access from India to Australia, ex-Japan, we hope that the CC Asian Evolution Fund will address growing investor appetite for a high-quality, pan-regional focused approach to the rapidly developing consumer sector in Asia, unavailable in many of the large Asian funds today,” Richard Cardiff, chief executive of Coupland Cardiff, said in a statement.

Cardiff later told WealthBriefing that the firm, given its partners' strong Asian experience, was well suited to manage such a portfolio. The firm has four fund managers based in London and three in Singapore, where Coupland Cardiff recently opened an office.

Many firms in China have short track records, which means experienced managers who can deal with issues such as weak corporate governance is important, he said. "That is where our experience sets us apart."

Coupland Cardiff Asset Management was founded five years ago and now offers five Asian funds. Its assets under management total $600 million, as at October 2010.