RWC Partners, part-owned by UK investment and private banking firm Schroders, is to launch an onshore macro hedge fund at the end of October, to be run by Peter Allwright and Stuart Frost, previously of Threadneedle.

The fund’s strategy will replicate the Threadneedle Macro Trading Crescendo Fund that the pair used to manage. Between October 2008 and June 2010, they generated total returns for this fund of over 15 per cent, according to a RWC statement. The RWC fund will be invested across liquid interest rate and currency markets; it will also trade in equity indices and commodity markets.

The target investment return is an annualised figure of 15 per cent. The fund is expected to launch with a minimum of $30 million from Allwright and Frost’s previous investors. It offers monthly liquidity and 15 days' notice for redemptions.

The fund will be the first hedge fund which RWC Partners will launch onshore, domiciling the fund in Ireland.  Subject to approval, it will be structured as an Irish Open Ended Investment Company and will be a Qualified Investment Fund (QIF).  Investors must put in at least €100,000 ($137,000) or equivalent.

In general, hedge funds have suffered a poor year. According to industry data from Hedge Fund Research, these funds are now down by 1.22 per cent between the start of January and end of August, although some strategies, such as short-biased funds, have made money.