Famous for its lengthy history in hedge funds and quantitative investing, London-headquartered Man Group’s Man AHL has made its first foray into the ETF space with the launch of an active, quantitative and systematic trading strategy in partnership with the USD63 billion manager of managers American Beacon Advisors.
The American Beacon AHL Trend ETF is designed to “proactively manage risk while attempting to capitalise on price trends” covering more than 20 of the most liquid global markets across stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies through the use of derivatives.
The ETF, which targets both institutional and retail investors, employs Man AHL’s expertise in quantitative models in an “attempt to identify and profit from market trends, while potentially generating a diversified and risk-managed return stream for clients”.
The ETF follows an earlier link between Resolute Investment Managers – American Beacon’s parent company – and AHL Man earlier this month which saw the launch of the American Beacon AHL Multi-Alternatives Fund.
Jeff Ringdahl, President and CEO of American Beacon and Resolute, tells IAM, ETF Express’s sister title, that investors have long demanded this kind of ETF.
“Our clients have expressed a strong desire for this alternative investment vehicle [and] Man AHL has solidified itself as a pioneer in systematic trading over the last three decades and, more importantly, has been a trusted partner of ours for nearly 10 years.”
He continues: “Launching these two products is a natural step to build on our past achievements and offers investors a unique complement to traditional portfolios.”
The move into ETFs by Man AHL is, according to the firm’s chief investment officer Russell Korgaonkar, is driven by investor demand for liquid vehicles.
“We believe that a wide range of investors should have access to the diversification and crisis alpha embedded within trend-following and multi-alternative strategies,” Korgaonkar says. “Demand to participate in more liquid vehicles is rapidly growing and ETFs are further complementing mutual funds as a critical component of the retail investor toolkit.”
The American Beacon AHL Trend ETF is set to be the first of many such funds from Resolute as it continues its partnership with Man AHL and other sub-advisors “to complement its evolving mutual fund lineup”.
Becky Harris, Senior Vice President for Product Management & Corporate Development at American Beacon and Resolute, says the asset manager will be “multi-dimensional in our approach”, adding: “We will bring differentiated products to the marketplace that offer clients efficient methods of exposure. Most importantly, we will continue to meet investors where they are by delivering unique investment styles and asset classes in the vehicles that best suit their modern portfolios.”
