Guernsey-based Dominion Fund Management today announced it is rolling out its Dominion Global Trends Strategic Fund, a portfolio aiming to tap into global trends in a way that bypasses traditional asset allocation thinking.

The fund, officially launched on 24 September, is managed by Arjen Los, Dominion’s chief investment officer. The fund selects stocks from a universe of around 150 securities; it has identified 10 sectors which it sees as likely to make returns: agriculture; health, consumer discretionary spending; infrastructure & logistics; consumer staples; metals & mining; energy; technology & telecoms, finance & commerce and water.

“The dynamic rise of eastern economies is an established fact and a two-speed global economy of global growth in the developed countries and faster growth in rapidly developing economies is now the `new normal’. These global shifts have created some exciting worldwide investment opportunities,” Los said in a statement.

Dominion already has a Global Trends Consumer Fund (formerly known as the “CHIC” fund), targeting trends such as the growth of an affluent, brand-conscious middle class in emerging markets. Launched in June 2007, that fund has delivered cumulative returns (in sterling) since the start of 2012 of 6.7 per cent, against a gain of 3.5 per cent for international equities. It has a five-year return performance of over 27 per cent, comfortably ahead of international stocks (Source: Trustnet.)

The fund focuses on holding international firms that derive the bulk of their earning power in fast-growing economies; the exact domicile of a business – such as Switzerland’s Nestlé – is far less important. (In the case of the Swiss food manufacturer, its Swiss location is almost irrelevant.)

The fund is a sub-fund of Dominion Global Trends SICAV plc and is compliant with UCITS IV structures; it is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority and recognised by CONSOB in Italy and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Share classes in the fund are available in euros, sterling and the dollar. The minimum initial investment is £2,000 ($3,129) and the fund carries an initial charge ranging from zero to 6.5 per cent, depending on the share class. (In the UK, the fund has a post-RDR share class with a zero initial charge. There is also a sterling “R” share class with an initial charge of up to 5 per cent - but all of that charge goes to the introducer. The 6.5 per cent charge is for international share classes where the model is different to within the UK.)

The fund is benchmarked against the MSCI World (Sterling) index.

Dominion was launched in 2004 and oversaw $470 million of client money as at 30 June this year.