Allianz Global Investors has made its multi-theme Thematica strategy available to UK retail investors as an Oeic.
Set up in December 2016, the Allianz Thematica A EUR has returned, net of fees, 110.14% – versus its benchmark index MSCI AC World achieving 76.45%. It invests in global equity markets and AUM has grown to the equivalent of £3bn, the firm said.
The UK fund will be available in C and W share classes and it is managed by Andreas Fruschki, head of thematic equity, and Gunnar Miller, global director of research at AllianzGI.
Using a set of five to seven investment themes, Allianz Thematica “allows investors to participate in the opportunities arising from structural shifts, typically driven by innovation, demographic change, resources scarcity, or urbanisation”.
Currently, the portfolio themes that the strategy taps into are next generation energy, digital life, health tech, infrastructure and the pet economy.
Fruschki said: “Thematic investing is a way of tuning out the noise, identifying the underlying long-term patterns and helping our clients to benefit from them. Allianz Thematica is unconstrained by region, sector or market cap, and views companies as either winners or losers of a trend – allowing us to pick the most promising companies globally, taking advantage of our freedom to be truly active.
“We are excited to bring this strategy to the UK market, offering UK investors the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve by investing in the most promising areas of tomorrow’s global economy.”
Neil Brown, head of UK distribution, added: “Thematica is one of AllianzGI’s flagship product offerings and I am excited we are now able to introduce the fund to UK investors.
“We see this product sitting neatly alongside more mainstream global equity portfolios, helping to achieve long-term capital growth whilst also acting as a portfolio diversifier.
“We also look forward to showcasing some of the fund’s underlying themes such as clean water and land, health tech and next generation energy and helping our investors to access these exciting areas of long-term structural change for their clients.”
