Managed by a four-strong team led by Didier Rabattu, the original vehicle has been available in Switzerland since 31 October 2011, having grown to more than $300m (£187.2m) under management. It has generated a total return of 18% since launch.
The managers have particular interest in equities related to restaurants, food retail, beer and spirits, food manufacturing and luxury goods, all set to profit from the burgeoning middle classes in these emerging markets.
The fund is billed as blending “the best tools of traditional long-only stock analysis with the risk management skills of alternative asset management”, and the team includes a dedicated risk manager who monitors correlations across stocks, countries and currencies.
Rabattu said: “Traditionally long-only fund managers pick stocks and then watch them go up or down, that’s history. We adapt our thematic research to the macro environment and a strict risk approach which always worries about how much the portfolio might lose, the weight of positions and the effect of currencies.”
