The fund is one of five newly launched funds, with Valu-Trac as authorised corporate director (ACD), based on the range of discretionary model portfolios the wealth manager has run since 2008.
However, the firm noted that the VT Esprit Careful Growth is of particular interest, given it is the only fund available to UK investors to have “careful” in its name.
Andrew Merricks (pictured), head of investments and fund manager at the firm, explained the group was “keen to have the word ‘careful’ authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as we thought it best described the way that we manage investors’ money”.
“Cautious and conservative funds have been tainted in the past by correlation and connotation,” he added. “In today’s topsy-turvy markets it is becoming more difficult to determine what is lower risk, cautious or conservative in any case, so we listened to our clients who asked us just to ‘be careful’ with their money.
“As always, we have our own, families’, colleagues’ and friends’ money at risk, so aiming for careful growth seemed to be a sensible approach to take right now.”
With many speculating that the latest global equity sell-off is the beginning of a correction, Merrick suspects that a careful growth option may appeal to investors who are worried about the year ahead.
The VT Esprit Careful Growth fund and the other four funds in the suite will be available on major platforms including Transact, Hargreaves Lansdown, Ascentric and Cofunds.
The full range of funds includes:
- VT Esprit Careful Growth fund
- VT Esprit Tactical Income fund
- VT Esprit Tactical Balanced fund
- VT Esprit Tactical Growth fund
- VT Esprit Tactical Alpha Plus fund
