Wellington Management has launched a market-neutral, multi-manager global equity UCITS fund for eligible investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

The Wellington Absolute Return Global Equity fund will aim for above-cash returns across all market conditions, benchmarking itself against the ICE Bank of America 3-Month US Treasury Bill index.

Run by co-head of multi-asset portfolio management Steve Gorman and portfolio manager Veenu Ramchandani, the two will invest in other equity strategies managed by Wellington with a hedge to each allocation.

The new UCITS vehicle is based on an established strategy managed by the firm since 2022, with $1.4 billion in assets under management.

Luke Stellini, head of solutions production management at Wellington Management said: “This launch is a response to clients seeking solutions to generate returns that are less dependent on market direction and broad asset class relationships.”

 “The fund aims to harness global equity alpha as a diversifying return stream that can enhance a traditional multi asset portfolio design for a wider set of investors.”  

The firm said the strategy is designed to isolate stock specific alpha from opportunity-rich segments of the market, aiming for a return profile with low sensitivity to broader equity and bond markets. 

“Traditional diversification alone is often no longer enough for today’s investors,” said Scott Geary, vice chair and head of global wealth at Wellington Management.

“That’s why advisers are increasingly partnering with managers who can bring innovative solutions to the market to help deliver more resilient, outcome oriented portfolios.”

A Wellington spokesperson told FSA the firm is currently in closed discussions with future potential distributors in Hong Kong and Singapore.