The firm has launched a fund, available in a UCITS structure for the European market, that is designed to protect against market downside.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is launching a global equity long/short portfolio, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg-domiciled open-ended collective investment scheme, and which qualifies for a pan-European UCITS passport.

Investors are looking to protect portfolios against potential market falls, so the new sub-fund meets an important need in the current market environment, Goldman Sachs Asset Management said in a note.

“For the first time, we are bringing the expertise and proven track record our team has delivered to institutional and qualified high net worth investors to a retail investing client base outside the US. We are excited to further meet the growing demand of our clients for differentiating liquid alternative investment solutions,” said Nick Phillips, head of international third-party distribution for Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

“We seek to identify secular changes in industries, markets and consumer behaviour that will positively or negatively impact companies. We are typically looking for investment opportunities with uncorrelated risk/return profiles and identifiable catalysts,” said Raanan Agus and Kenneth Eberts, co-heads of the Goldman Sachs investment strategies portfolio management team. “We strive to build a portfolio with low directional exposure to equity markets and the flexibility and nimbleness to generate attractive performance in any market environment." 

The GSIS team is comprised of 50 investment professionals across four regions globally and led by Agus and Eberts. The team manages $5.6 billion in global opportunistic equity long/short strategies.

The fund is offered to both institutional and retail clients and is registered for sale across Europe.