UK-domiciled Ignis HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund

HEXAM Capital is delighted to announce the launch of the UK-domiciled Ignis HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund. The new onshore fund will mirror the award-winning £71 million Dublin-domiciled Ignis International HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund and will open to investment on Wednesday 11 February 2009. Onshore authorisation will make the fund more widely available on fund platforms, making it more accessible for UK investors.

Lead managed by Bryan Collings, the fund will aim to achieve long-term capital growth through a concentrated portfolio of approximately 30 to 50 stocks and is not constrained by index weightings. The fund will take active sector and country positions from a broad range of stocks accessing the considerable long-term potential of emerging markets.

Mirroring its offshore counterpart, the onshore fund will initially adopt high conviction overweight positions towards Brazil, China and Russia. The fund has also taken advantage of depressed commodity stocks and has built a material active position in very select themes. Currently, the HEXAM fund only has exposure to seven of the 23 mainstream emerging markets, illustrating the team's concentration on ‘best ideas' in the portfolio construction process. The team's approach was recently recognised at the 2008 Portfolio Adviser Awards, where the Ignis HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund (offshore) was voted ‘Best Equity Newcomer' across all equity sectors.

Bryan Collings, lead manager of the Ignis HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund, says: "Emerging markets have the kind of solid fundamentals and investment opportunities that the developed world can only dream about. We firmly believe that many investors are taking an unintended risk by not having sufficient exposure in their portfolios, especially given our concerns about the UK economy and the dismal long-term outlook for domestic savings yields. Emerging markets will deliver significant and sustainable growth over the coming decades and at current levels, we believe this is an exceptional medium-term buying opportunity and the perfect time to make the fund more accessible to UK investors."

Jonathan Polin, director at Ignis Asset Management, HEXAM's joint venture partner, says: "Emerging markets offer an outstanding medium to long-term investment opportunity. Demand for a UK-domiciled version of HEXAM GEMs has been growing and we are delighted to make it more accessible for UK investors. The HEXAM team is one of the most experienced emerging markets teams in the business and has a strong client following. I am sure this fund will prove popular with both institutional and retail investors alike."