L&G recruit Standard Life Investments' GARS Fund

Leading fund manager and provider of multi-asset solutions, Standard Life Investments announced that its Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) Fund has been added to Legal & General's Portfolio Plus Pensions and Portfolio Bond range.

GARS will join Standard Life Investments' AAA Income, UK Gilt, Corporate Bond, Higher Income, Select Property, UK Equity High Income, UK Opportunities and UK Smaller Companies funds, all of which are currently available to investors via Legal & General investment channels.

GARS was opened to retail investors in May 2008, enabling investors to access the fund via SIPP, Bond, ISA and Standard Life fund platform channels. It had already generated an impressive track record in institutional space since its launch in June 2006.

Tam McVie, Investment Director - Mutual Funds, Standard Life Investments, said: "We are delighted that Legal & General has embraced the success of our GARS Fund by adding it to their investment proposition. We're particularly pleased that even more retail investors will be able to access the benefits this fund offers. Ratings agencies Standard & Poor's and OBSR have also recognised the strength of this fund, both having awarded the fund ‘A' ratings. Citywire also nominated it as one of the top 20 recommendations for this year's ISA season.

"The fact that GARS was our best selling mutual fund during 2009 and continues to be so to date during 2010 is further evidence that word is spreading widely about the attractions of this fund. It is well diversified and aims to provide investors with the same returns that have historically been achieved from conventional long-term equity investment but with less uncertainty."

The performance of the fund to date has been strong. Since its launch in June 2006, it has produced a gross annualised return of 9.8% with a volatility of only 6.6%. During the same period, global equities, as denoted by the MSCI World Index, returned 6.5% p.a. with a volatility of 17.8%.

GARS is designed to exploit inefficiencies across global markets and to also access a diverse array of stock picking skill. It invests in a combination of traditional investments such as equities, bonds and foreign exchange together with more advanced strategies such as relative value, duration, credit spreads, inflation and volatility strategies.