UBS awards $116m to Standard Life Investments’ GARS portfolio

Standard Life Investments, the global investment manager, has announced that it has been selected, on a sub-advisory basis, by UBS PACE Select Advisors Trust to manage a 25% (approximately $116.5m) component of its UBS PACE Alternative Strategies Investments (the "Fund").

In managing its portion of the Fund, Standard Life Investments utilizes its Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) portfolio.

Standard Life Investments' Global Absolute Return Strategies portfolio seeks to deliver an absolute return similar to what might be expected from equities in the long-term, but with significantly less risk. This is sought through a dynamic multi-asset, multi-market strategy that manages investments across a range of traditional and non-traditional sources of return.

GARS currently has over $8 billion of assets under management and over 260 institutional clients.

GARS has delivered gross annualized returns of 10.75% over the last three years with a volatility level of 6.4%. Over the same period, the MSCI World TR GBP Index returned minus 1.26% with volatility of 20.33%.

The Fund is offered on a stand alone basis and through UBS PACE Select Advisors Program, a comprehensive consulting solution using equity, fixed income and alternative mutual fund portfolios. Each PACE portfolio represents a distinct investment style and is subadvised by one or more investment advisors. The PACE Select Program is designed for investors seeking broad asset allocation, diversification and automatic rebalancing.

Standard Life Investments developed GARS in November 2005 to satisfy the requirements of its own defined benefit pension plan. It has grown significantly since that time and attracted a broad array of institutional clients including Electrolux, Volkswagen and Electrocomponents. GARS is available to US and international investors through commingled funds and separate accounts at very competitive fees. It offers levels of portfolio transparency, liquidity and access unusual among its peers.

Mabel Lung, Managing Director, UBS Global Asset Management (Americas) Inc., the Fund's investment advisor, said: "We are very pleased to add Standard Life Investments as the fifth sub-advisor in our PACE Alternative Strategies fund. GARS, at a 25% weight in the Fund, represents a core holding and is a strategy that we believe provides multi-faceted opportunities to generate returns.  With Standard Life Investments on board, we believe we have further enhanced the potential of the PACE Alternative Strategies fund to generate investment returns that are more independent of the equity and fixed income markets. This is extremely important to investors in today's volatile investment climate."

Steve Kuhn, Head of US Business Development, Standard Life Investments, said: "I'm delighted that we've been given the opportunity to play such an important role in managing assets for the PACE Alternative Strategies fund. Standard Life Investments' Global Absolute Return Strategies portfolio provides US investors with the potential to enhance returns and achieve stability. This partnership with UBS is also a great example of the synergies that can be created between two global managers with a shared vision to provide investors with attractive investment options."