Standard Life launches GARS SICAV to European investors

Standard Life Investments, the global fund manager, has announced that it has completed the launch of its best-selling Global Absolute Return Strategies portfolio (GARS) to European investors.

Structured as a sub-fund forming part of Standard Life Investments' Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV range, the Fund is now available in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. The SICAV version is now also available in the United Kingdom, where a unit trust structure has been in place since 2008.

GARS 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 multiasset, multi-market strategy that manages investments across a range of traditional and non-traditional sources of return. GARS currently has €8 billion of assets under management and 331 institutional clients.

GARS is managed by a team of 24 investment professionals with an average of 15 years' investment experience. The team's key area of expertise is its ability to source, analyse and exploit a wide range of market return investment opportunities, while also independently harvesting performance from security selection sources. It has delivered gross annualized returns of 8.62% over the last three years with a volatility level of 7.5%.  Over the same period, the MSCI World TR GBP Index returned 3.68% with volatility of 20.80%.

Phil Barker, Head of Pan-European Sales, Standard Life Investments, said: "GARS has been the biggest selling retail fund in the UK in 2010, so I'm very pleased that European investors will now be able access Standard Life Investments' expertise in absolute return investing. We have a large team behind GARS, which has enormous experience in both alpha generation and strong risk management. This combination has enabled the Fund to provide equity-like returns but with around a third of the volatility.

This is a compelling proposition in today's low growth environment.

"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 over 330 clients including Electrolux, Volkswagen and Electrocomponents. The SICAV will provide both retail and institutional investors with a structure which is UCITS III compliant, provides daily liquidity and has low charges with no performance fees."

Standard Life Investments' SICAV offering provides investors with access to a number of sub-funds across a diverse range of geographies and sectors in both equities and bonds.

The funds have public distribution status in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and The United Kingdom.