The fund, to be managed by Will James, will invest pre-dominantly in high yielding European equities with the potential for some exposure to convertibles, fixed interest and cash.

“This fund was launched in response to increased demand from UK investors seeking access to the diversity of equity income from outside the UK,” said Jacqueline Kerr, head of Mutual & Life Fund Investments at Standard Life

“The launch of this new fund allows us to expand the OEIC range already available to investors. We believe that the fund manager’s differentiated approach (which emphasises income generation from dividend focused, cash disciplined companies), the potential for capital growth and our robust and repeatable investment process, will appeal to retail investors and discretionary asset managers looking to add value in the region,” Ms Kerr added.

The company warns that investors must be able to accept significant temporary losses due to the volatile nature of equity markets and should therefore have an investment time horizon of at least five years.

The Standard Life Group has around seven million customers in over 50 countries. Standard Life Investments, as at end-2008, manages £123.8 billion ($183.6 billion) of assets.