London-based alternative asset manager Man investments has launched a new UCITS III product as part of a partnership deal with Dexion Capital Group, a hedge fund marketing firm.

The product is called Man AHL Diversity,  a managed futures vehicle.

Managed by Man division AHL, the fund is the UK version of an existing offshore trend follower. While the minimum investment for the offshore fund is $30,000, initial investment for AHL Diversity is only £100 ($166). Dexion and Man hope the new fund will appeal to a broad range of IFAs, private and institutional investors.

“For many years, private investors all around the world have enjoyed the returns and low correlation to traditional asset classes offered by AHL. For the first time, UK investors will be able to access AHL via a UCITS III product, in a transparent, highly regulated and accessible format,” said Robin Bowie, chairman of Dexion.

Trend follower products such as AHL – often known as managed futures managers – seek to exploit persistent trends and other market inefficiencies in a systematic way using highly liquid futures markets. Their funds are designed to perform whether prices trend up or down with the result that returns tend to be uncorrelated with traditional stock or bond markets.

“We saw that with AHL’s highly impressive performance last year when its best performing fund delivered 33 per cent at the same time as some equity markets fell 40 per cent. Last year’s performance clearly illustrates AHL’s potential to reduce risk and enhance returns when added to a traditional portfolio of stocks and bonds,” said Tim Wong, chief executive officer of AHL.

Trend following traders use data from previous years to inform and predict trades and reduce slippage -the difference between the expected and actual trade price. AHL have established a joint venture with Oxford University to develop trend following and prediction software. In return for an investment, AHL staff share office space and research with academic and students at AHL Oxford.

As at 30 June 2009 Man had $43 billion assets under management.

Dexion Capital runs marketing and distribution of listed and single manager products as well as providing client advice, research, fund administration and investment management services.