Not for release or distribution in the US
AMP Capital has launched an Asia Quant Fund, which takes the proven quantitative investment technique it has honed in Australia and applies it to a selection of rapidly developing Asian markets.
The AMP Capital Asia Quant Fund, which is market neutral, has been launched with US$25 million in assets under management. During market testing, the fund has established a two-year track record of long/short investing in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, which is combined with AMP Capital's 20 years of quantitative investing in Australia.
The fund's investible universe comprises more than 800 stocks across the five countries. It will be managed by the team that runs AMP Capital's Australian multi-strategy funds. The team has a track record of more than 15 years and manages more than US$14 billion across a range of strategies such as value, active quant, enhanced index and long/short.
AMP Capital Co-Head Multi Strategy Equity Funds Mark McClatchey said: "AMP Capital's point of difference is that we combine the quant technique of seeking alpha from long-standing behavioural biases with fundamental insights. This hybrid approach allows us to capture the returns from value and momentum signals but we also take into account the stock-specific risks that traditional quant investors tend to overlook. This approach delivers the best risk-adjusted outcomes for our investors.
"The AMP Capital Asia Quant Fund will appeal to institutional investors such as family offices, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds that want access to the alpha available in Asian markets. These sophisticated investors favour quantitative returns because they tend to be consistent, repeatable and risk-controlled. They will also like the diversification of returns offered by our fund, which is market neutral and therefore delivers pure alpha, compared to long-only Asian portfolios. Importantly, the returns of the fund are sourced from the behavioural biases in the market and represent a good diversification to more fundamentally-based investing."
AMP Capital Chief Executive International and Head of Global Clients Anthony Fasso commented that the broader Asian market is more than mature enough for quantitative techniques. "The market has developed to a point where there is a very broad coverage of stocks in the region, good liquidity and corporate governance continues to improve," Mr Fasso said.
"With the launch of the AMP Capital Asia Quant Fund, we're taking our team's extensive experience in both quantitative research and long/short investing, and applying them to a selection of core Asian markets."
About AMP Capital
AMP Capital is a specialist investment manager with more than A$142 billion in funds under management as at 31 March 2014 and more than 250 investment professionals worldwide. AMP Capital has a heritage and strength in real estate and infrastructure, and specialist expertise in fixed income, equities and multi-asset solutions.
Within infrastructure, AMP Capital is one of the most experienced global managers with more than 20 years' experience and over 100 infrastructure (equity and debt) investments globally since 1988. AMP Capital was one of the first to invest in infrastructure when it participated in the financing of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel in 1988. AMP Capital's European infrastructure business invests in a portfolio of infrastructure assets diversified by European countries and sectors including, energy/utilities, transport, social and asset life cycles.
AMP Capital is a subsidiary of AMP Limited. Established in 1849, AMP has more than 160 years of experience providing financial services, and is one of Australia's largest retail and corporate pension providers.
