Merrill rolls out retail quant fund
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has made a play for the platform and financial planner market, pitching a new fund offering quantitative investment techniques to retail investors.
The Merrill Lynch Australian Quant Strategies Fund was released to the retail market from today after it was initially launched to institutional investors last November.
MLIM portfolio manager Ken Liow says the group had registered strong interest from financial advisers for a retial version of the fund.
“We have been surprised by the extent to which the strategies we employ to create wealth for clients struck a chord with financial planners and advisers,” Liow says.
MLIM has launched the fund on the back of the performance of its institutional forebear which has outperformed the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index by 2.2 per cent since its inception.
The fund’s strategy is to mix long and short positions and the type of investments considered include Australian shares and listed hybrids, equity swaps, options and international securities.
The fund holds approximately 100 to 140 stocks long and 10 to 20 stocks sold short.
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