German boutique Assenagon has announced the soft close of its Alpha Volatility fund after inflows have risen dramatically into the strategy in recent months.
The fund has seen its net asset value increase from €130m at the end of 2015 to around €600m.
Assenagon said it decided to temporarily restrict the issue of new share certificates for its Alpha Volatility strategy in order to safeguard existing investors’ interests.
From 9 June 2016, new investments will be restricted to €250,000 per week.
“The total amount will be allocated pro-rata to orders received as of the cut-off on the last business day of the week, with shares to be allocated rounded down to whole units.
“The only investment date will be the first business day of the respective following week and only existing shareholders may subscribe.
“Assenagon reserves the right to approve exceptions. Shares may still be returned on any valuation date,” the German boutique explained.
The alternative strategy considers volatility as an investment class.
It trades volatility pairs in accordance with certain recurring behaviour patterns on the volatility markets. Portfolio managers select single-stock implied volatility while simultaneously selling index volatility.
“With a NAV of approximately €600m, we believe we are well positioned to continue the optimal exploitation of opportunities presented by volatility on behalf of our investors,” commented Assenagon’s managing director Vassilios Pappas.
“By restricting the issue of share certificates we are ensuring that we can fully meet our existing investors’ expectations at all times,” he added.
