Janus Henderson Global Multi-Strategy Fund rated ‘Recommended’ by Zenith

Janus Henderson Global Multi-Strategy Fund (APIR: HGI4648AU), a 15-year old strategy launched to Australian investors via a managed investment scheme structure in early June, has been awarded a “Recommended” rating by Zenith Investment Partners.

The Fund offers exposure to a diversified portfolio of internally managed hedge fund strategies, while seeking to deliver absolute returns with low correlation to traditional asset classes.

Co-managed by David Elms and Stephen Cain, based in London and Denver respectively, and supported by a global team of specialist portfolio managers, the Fund draws upon Janus Henderson’s heritage and experience in multi-strategy investing, with the team managing over $11.6bn (USD) in assets globally.

Zenith considers the breadth of Elms’ and Cain’s trading experience to be highly compatible with the investment approach. In its report, Zenith states, “In our opinion, the quality of the two Lead Portfolio Managers and the access to differentiated hedge fund strategies in a highly liquid and cost-efficient format are key competitive advantages.

“Elms has extensive experience in managing equity-based, long-short strategies, while Cain has traded volatility and macro-based strategies across a number of senior investment management roles.”

“We acknowledge that the depth of opportunities across the strategies provides JHI with ample levers to outperform through the cycle. An attractive feature of the underlying strategy mix is the inclusion of a ‘portfolio protection’ sleeve, which is implemented with the objective of preserving capital and balancing market risk and correlations with traditional asset classes.

“In our opinion, the team’s ability to manage the sleeve with low ongoing cost is a key competitive advantage.” the report further noted.

Matt Gaden, Head of Australia, comments: “Investors in Australia are demanding a wider range of performance drivers in their portfolios to help them ride out this financial market instability. When we launched this highly successful global strategy in Australia earlier this month, it was important for it to be well understood by the marketplace. The Zenith coverage will go a long way to highlight the unique characteristics and benefits of the Fund for Australian investors.

“The COVID-19 crisis is forcing investors of all types to also rethink risk and investors are likely to make or increase allocations to funds which have demonstrated their ability to weather the prevailing volatile market turbulence. We’re seeing strong initial interest from Australian institutional investors and financial advisers in the Fund as recent gains have been compelling and the Fund has demonstrated the ability to help investors through this period of extreme volatility.”

The Fund aims to deliver positive absolute returns, regardless of market conditions, and to outperform the Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index by 7% per annum (before fees) over rolling three-year periods. It aims to do so with low levels of volatility, expected to be 4-8%.

It is available on HUB24 platform via the IDPS investment menu, as well as available directly from Janus Henderson, with an aim to add greater platform availability over the coming months.