F&C launches pan-European fund

F&C Investments has launched a new fund to provide investors with a combination of capital growth and income from European equities.

The Luxembourg domiciled F&C European Growth & Income SICAV fund is managed by Paras Anand, Head of European Equities, who also manages a UK OEIC fund focused on Europe ex. UK which successfully adopted a growth and income strategy two years ago.

The new F&C European Growth & Income SICAV invests on a pan-European basis. The Fund currently holds investments in 13 countries with approximately 22% in the UK, 20% in the Netherlands, 14% in Germany and 11% in both France and Switzerland.

The manager looks to blend a focused portfolio of blue-chip long-term investments where he believes the market is materially mis-pricing a company's prospects. The Fund invests across sectors but currently is heavily over weight financials. The yield on the current portfolio is estimated to be approximately 3.7% compared with a benchmark yield of 3.2%. Dividends on the Fund will be distributed quarterly.

F&C has a large and well resourced European investment team that seeks to identify market inefficiencies, adding value for clients. The team avoids bias to any particular investment style, remaining pragmatic and flexible - a key component of maintaining the potential to deliver in all market conditions. Fundamental company analysis lies at the heart of the approach and the manager and team have exceptional access to company management as well as the ability to conduct extensive qualitative and quantitative research. Risk management is embedded throughout their process allowing us to understand and control risk exposure within portfolios on an ongoing basis.

The Fund, which has both a Euro and Sterling share class, was launched with client seeding of some £60 million (€ 69 million) and is initially registered for sale in Austria, Ireland, UK, Germany, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.