Wheelhouse Global Equity Income Fund added to BT Wrap and BT Panorama platforms

The flagship fund of Australian-based specialist income manager Wheelhouse Partners, the Wheelhouse Global Equity Fund, is now available to Australian retail investors through the BT Wrap and BT Panorama platforms.

The Fund is unique in that it combines a targeted 7-8% income return with ‘always-on’ tail or crash protection, designed to partially protect the portfolio during any market sell off.

Alastair MacLeod, Managing Director of Wheelhouse Partners, commented, “With equity markets approaching all-time highs and interest rates at all-time lows, the demand for strategies with an absolute return focus is increasing.

“Our strategy offers investors, who are being pushed further along the risk curve in their search of yield, a highly novel income solution without them having to expose their capital to full market risk.  Retirees in particular can be severely affected if their capital base is impaired, resulting in a weaker income generation. This is why the Fund prioritises capital preservation and income generation.”

The Wheelhouse Global Equity Fund is among the lowest risk long-only global equity strategies available in Australia, due to its highly defensive investment approach that invests in global equities but also applies a specialist derivative overly to target income plus capital preservation.

The Fund’s absolute return characteristics were evidenced during the coronavirus affected March 2020 quarter, where the Fund delivered a positive 2.2% return.  During this period the Fund’s protective tail hedge that sits embedded within the portfolio, materially appreciated in value, serving to offset and mitigate equity losses. Coupled with the Fund’s defensive currency benefits of owning unhedged global equities, these twin defensive exposures combined to fully mitigate capital losses for Australian investors.

“We are excited to be working with BT and broadening our distribution footprint in Australia,” MacLeod said

“There is a genuine scarcity of specialist retirement income strategies designed for Australians, and the distribution arrangement with BT means many more advisors and retirees around the country will be now able to easily access the fund.”

The Wheelhouse Global Equity Fund was rated ‘Recommended’ by Zenith in 2020.