The renowned Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund, or GARS, was the brainchild of Munro, who headed the team which created the product for Standard Life Investments.
One month into taking up the role of chief executive at Aviva Investors, the industry is anticipating that Munro will be in charge of launching a new GARS-style product.
His former colleagues David Millar, Dave Jubb and Richard Batty, who all left SLI for Invesco Perpetual, launched the rival IP Global Targeted Returns Fund in September last year, that closely resembles the SLI product.
A spokesperson at Aviva Investors confirmed the company’s strategy, saying: "At Aviva Investors we plan to simplify our investment offering and focus on products where we have a strong track record, and where there is anticipated client demand. Our ambition is to move towards outcome with low volatility funds."
While neither confirming nor denying the launch of a new GARS-type product, the spokesperson added: "Our new chief executive Euan Munro has a strong pedigree in outcome-orientated investing and it is not unreasonable to expect future offerings could include a low volatility absolute return fund."
