What's New In Investments, Funds? - Vontobel, AXA, Others

Tom Burroughes

3 September 2020

Vontobel
Vontobel Asset Management has launched the Vontobel Fund II – KAR US Small-Mid Cap in partnership with Kayne Anderson Rudnick, an affiliated manager of Virtus Investment Partners, to provide investors with access to US small- and mid-cap equities.

The fund aims to generate attractive risk-adjusted long-term returns by investing in the stocks of US small- and mid-cap companies with durable competitive advantages, excellent management, and lower financial risk. The US small-mid cap universe provides access to almost 3,500 companies.

The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and its share class is in dollars. The share class is institutional with a 0.825 per cent annual management fee.

AXA Investment Managers
, which is a specialist global emerging markets investment company, has launched an emerging markets fund, structured as a UCITS entity.

The Somerset Emerging Markets Future Leaders Fund will mainly invest in medium-sized businesses which derive most earnings in emerging markets, with a market cap range generally between $750 million and $13 billion.

Co-managers are Edward Robertson and Anthony Linehan.

The new fund will be seeded with about $350 million from the Swedish National Pension Fund, Första AP-fonden (AP1), a company which Somerset has worked with since 2013. AP1 was also the seed investor of the firm’s $60 million Somerset Frontier Markets Fund in 2018.

Somerset said that the fund, which holds a portfolio of 40-50 companies forming part of the Somerset Emerging Markets Mid Cap Strategy, was first launched in July 2012; it is co-managed by Edward Robertson and Anthony Linehan. Companies in the fund have a typical holding of three to five years. There is daily dealing in the fund, which is domiciled in Dublin.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers
, has launched a new China strategy, expanding its global high-conviction equity offering.

LOIM’s China High Conviction strategy invests in high-quality companies with sustainable business models that have the potential to deliver attractive economic returns over the long term. The strategy captures several investment themes across a diversified portfolio of 30 to 50 stocks, balanced across three buckets (quality value, high growth and corporate events) to navigate through different market cycles.

The strategy is managed by LOIM’s Asia investment team – the portfolio managers are Zhikai Chen, Roxy Wong, Odile Lange-Broussy and Jinwen Ouyang.