Gartmore Japan Absolute Return Fund

Gartmore continues its push into the absolute return market with the launch of its Japan Absolute Return Fund. Sheridan Admans, investment adviser at The Share Centre, explains why the fund could prove attractive to investors wanting exposure to Japan over the long term.

"Launched on 1 February 2010, the Gartmore Japan Absolute Return Fund aims to achieve a positive absolute return over the long term, regardless of market conditions, by taking long and short positions, primarily in Japanese equities or equity-related derivative contracts. Short positions are taken via derivatives only.

"The fund's portfolio is a combination of longer-term strategic and more opportunistic tactical positions. The strategic portion of the portfolio is based mainly on ideas from the Gartmore research team and focuses on long-term earning expectations, where the manager's view is different from the market.

"In comparison, the tactical part of the fund is focused on looking for specific events, pricing anomalies or market inefficiencies to drive the share price in the very short term. It is expected the portfolio will be evenly split between the two types of position.

"This type of alternative strategy is not a new direction for Gartmore, which has been managing these types of portfolios for more than ten years as hedge funds, and is now in the fortunate position to bring them to the retail market.

"The Gartmore Japan Absolute Return Fund is managed by John Stewart who has managed a similar strategy in the hedge fund universe for Gartmore since 2000, though performance comparisons are difficult to make as they are exposed to different regulation."