Quilter Investors launches absolute return equity fund

Quilter has today announced it has launched the Quilter Investors Absolute Return Equity Fund, a sub-advised mandate to be used within the WealthSelect Managed Portfolio Service.

Managed by Janus Henderson, the mandate will focus on providing a positive (absolute) return, regardless of market conditions, over a 12-month period. The fund is a long/short equity strategy that invests in large-and mega-cap companies, predominantly in the UK but also in Europe and the US.

Based on the Janus Henderson Absolute Return Fund and managed by Ben Wallace and Luke Newman, the new mandate follows a similar ‘core’ and ‘tactical’ approach to portfolio construction, where the former focuses on companies with strong cashflows and fundamentals, while the latter looks for market anomalies. 

Quilter uses a range of sub-advised mandates, along with third-party funds, across its multi-asset investment solutions, including WealthSelect. This approach offers the portfolio managers a broad range of high-quality strategies across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies.

Meanwhile, Quilter has announced it has appointed Jupiter to manage the Quilter Investors UK Equity Growth Fund. The fund will be managed by Chris Smith, manager of Jupiter’s own UK Growth Fund which the sub-advised mandate will be based on. 

Using sub-advised mandates in this way allows the WealthSelect portfolios to switch between fund managers without the need to buy or sell funds, which would usually trigger a capital gains tax charge and increased dealing costs.

Stuart Clark, portfolio manager of Quilter’s WealthSelect, said: “We have been looking for a fund that can nicely complement our existing alternative and absolute return exposure, and we have great confidence in the team at Janus Henderson. Many all-weather strategies have aimed to achieve an absolute return but have fallen short, yet this strategy is somewhat an outlier in terms of having been able to meet its objectives over a circa 20-year time period.

“The team is incredibly experienced, and our analysis shows that the style of the fund is genuinely different from most other long/short managers. We are excited to add this position to the portfolios to help us navigate clients through what is an uncertain market.

“We are also really pleased to be bringing the team at Jupiter on board to run our UK Equity Growth Fund. Chris Smith and the team there have a strong and consistent growth-centric investment process and have a proven history of identifying high-quality growing companies in the UK, but crucially at attractive valuations.”

Pat Sanderson, Head of UK Client Group at Janus Henderson, added: “We’re thrilled to build on our valued partnership with Quilter through the launch of the Quilter Investors Absolute Return Equity Fund. With a multi-decade track record of delivering consistent positive absolute returns, Ben and Luke bring a proven strategy that complements Quilter’s multi-asset solutions, and aligns with their focus on supporting clients through all market conditions.”