Man AHL launches futures fund for retail

The Man AHL rhinoceros is about to return to Hong Kong MTR hoardings with the Man AHL guaranteed futures 4 (90% guaranteed) fund, which is designed for local retail investors.

Introducing the thick-skinned herbivore, Man Investments' Giselle Lee says that she isn't too worried about their other managed futures funds having a slightly off-colour 2009. Managed funds love directional trends, and with markets volatile this year, the three versions of the offerings are down between 7% and 9%.

The reason Lee can be thick-skinned about directionless markets is twofold. Firstly, managed futures funds, Man AHL's included, were on a romp in 2008, Man's triptych up by approximately 20% on an annualised basis, and secondly, these funds have a capital guarantee structure, which means an investor doesn't get minibonded out of the game.

The principal guarantee is from Credit Suisse and starts out at 90%, and with a profit lock-up feature, that can rise to 100%. The first version of the fund (2006 vintage) is already locked in at 100%, and the second (established 2007) is now just a hair's breadth away from the tonne.

The new eight-year tenor fund has a 3% management fee. It invests in 170 developed and emerging markets across 35 exchanges. It's the usual spread of futures contracts, topped by foreign currencies, with a 25% approximate portfolio concentration, followed by bonds and stocks, down to agriculturals, the thinnest markets, which should account for about 5% of the portfolio typically.

The final piece of good news is that the fund is authorised by Hong Kong's SFC.