The firm said it was responding to client demand in its launch of the Investec GSF Emerging Markets Multi-Asset Fund, which aims to combine allocations to Investec’s specialist EM debt and EM equity components into a single fund.
Philip Saunders, head of global multi-asset investments at Investec and John Stopford, co-head of fixed income will be co-portfolio managers on the fund.
Investec’s multi-asset team will also help to bring the equity and fixed income components of the strategy together using a flexible asset allocation approach.
The fund can invest in equities, local currency and hard currency debt and aims to provide exposure to EMs growth potential with lower volatility than that of an equity-only approach, according to Investec.
Frontier market and commodity allocations are also allowed in the fund, as are defensive assets.
EM range
David Aird, head of UK client group for Investec AM, said: "We have seen increasing demand from our UK and international clients for this multi-asset solution to investing in emerging markets. This fund aims to offer an approach whereby proven components are combined by experienced asset allocators.
"We have a proven track record in the underlying building blocks that this fund will use, as well as in multi-asset investing."
The Investec Emerging Markets Local Currency Debt Fund is in the top quartile over three years, returning 53.9% compared to 24.5% from the benchmark over the period.Over five years the fund is up 98%, compared to 36% from the benchmark.
But its performance has faltered in the past year and it is underperforming the benchmark over one year, six months and three months.
The Investec GSF Emerging Markets Equity Fund was launched in April of this year and has so far underperformed the index, losing 7.66% and 17.54% over three and six months, compared to -4.18% and -15.81% from the benchmark over the respective periods.
Prior to this Investec offered investors exposure to EM equities through its global equity products.
