The FAST Optimised European Market Neutral Fund aims to deliver cash-plus returns, regardless of market conditions. It is the latest addition to the Fidelity Active Strategy family of funds.

By adopting a 100 per cent long, 100 per cent short structure through derivatives - known as a synthetic structure - the fund’s managers hope to minimise market, sector and country-based risk and thus benefit from Fidelity’s global proprietary equity research.

Managed by Riccardo Curcio and Raheel Altaf, the new fund is a UCITS III vehicle, domiciled in Luxembourg and using the BBA Euro Libor Overnight rate as its benchmark. It has a number of share classes each with its own management charges to suit diverse investor needs.

Alex Homan, client portfolio manager, said: “The portfolio managers seek to deliver a monthly return greater than the cash benchmark with a view to hopefully generating a consistent return over the medium-term. However the fund has no capital guarantee and investors should expect some volatility.

“The lack of correlation between the portfolio’s returns and the equity market makes the fund an attractive diversifier to equities, particularly during periods of heightened market volatility. The dependence on individual stock selection as the source of return means that this strategy can be effective at all points of the market cycle.”