Martin Currie hedged share class for North American fund

Martin Currie Investment Management Limited (Martin Currie) adds dollar-hedged share classes to its North American funds for institutional investors.

In response to client demand, Martin Currie is introducing dollar-hedged share classes to both the multi-award winning Martin Currie North American fund and the more recently added best ideas driven North American Alpha fund from 3 September for institutional investors. The hedged share classes will not only allow clients to mitigate currency impact from their North American investments but also to express any strong currency views by switching between share classes without having to realise the investment or incur any CGT liability.

The hedged share class will hedge the US and Canadian dollar exposure that UK institutional investors have when investing in North American companies.

Commenting on the launch, Director of product development at Martin Currie, Toby Hogbin, said: "Tom Walker, who heads our North American team, has been managing the North American fund for over seven years and has one of the strongest performance records in the sector. The fund has won numerous awards and delivered positive performance while the market and sector average have lost money. We're delighted to be adding the hedged share classes to protect clients worried about currency fluctuations. The new share classes will hedge dollar exposure back into sterling, shielding investors from any weakening in the dollar while allowing access to North American equities. Clients can either select the new share class with the dollar currency risk removed, or invest in the unhedged share class if they anticipate a depreciation in sterling against the dollar. It's great to be able to offer investors a choice."

Commenting on North American, Tom Walker, head of Martin Currie's North American team said: "We believe that economic data now indicates that the worst may well be behind us. Whilst the move in markets over the last couple of months suggests that the recovery will be sharp, we believe it will be more protracted. In this environment the stockmarket will be much more selective about which companies it rewards and therefore it is now more important than ever for investors to focus their attention on proven stockpickers rather than passive strategies".