Pictet Asset Management has added an eighth fund to its Total Return range by launching the Pictet-TR Akari fund, a Ucits vehicle that applies a Japanese equity market neutral strategy with weekly liquidity.
The fund seeks exposure to liquid and mainly large cap stocks, and targets beta neutrality overall. It is registered for sale in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Spain.
Senior investment managers Teruhiko (Eric) Nishimura and Tomohiro (Tomo) Yamaguchi are based in Tokyo. The team has been managing capital in Pictet Asset Management’s flagship multi-strategy fund – Diversified Alpha/Alphanatics – since 2016
Nishimura said: “A thorough understanding of both company fundamentals and market technicals is essential to generating consistent returns in this market. We believe that Japan provides structural and cyclical opportunities to extract pure alpha.”
Pictet’s Total Return fund range claims combined AUM of $10.3bn, including the market neutral funds Agora (European equity), Diversified Alpha/Alphanatics (multi-strategy) and Phoenix (Asian equities). The range also includes equity long/short directional funds, Corto (European equities), Mandarin (Greater China equities), Atlas (global equities) as well as the global long/short credit fund, Kosmos.
