Matthew Newham

Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, announced yesterday that multi-manager Alpha Fund Managers has become the first Australian investor in the Standard Life Investments Absolute Return Global Bond Strategies Trust (ARGBS).

Matthew Newham, Investment Director Wholesale Business, Standard Life Investments, said: “We are delighted with Alpha Fund Managers’ allocation to ARGBS. This recognises the differentiation that an unconstrained fixed income fund with a focus on absolute returns can provide for investors seeking diversification and predictable returns.

The ARGBS fund aims to return cash* of 3% per annum over rolling three-year periods, with as little volatility as possible. It has the most compelling macro investment opportunities to diversify returns and sources of returns.”

Rod Bristow, Managing Director of Infocus Wealth Management, the parent company of Alpha Fund Managers, said: “We are attracted to ARGBS because of its strong diversification benefits and consistent returns over time. We believe our clients will benefit from the fund’s stable returns and low correlation with traditional bond and equity indices.”

ARGBS is a multi-asset strategy established in March 2011 in the UK and the Australian Trust has been in operation since June 2014. Since ARGBS launched over four years ago, bond markets have experienced large swings in the level of volatility; the ‘taper tantrum’ of 2013 and the aggressive bond market sell-off which began in late April 2015 being two high profile examples. However, despite these events, the fund has proven resilient, with an annualised return of 4.95%^, net of fees to 31 July 2015.

Standard Life Investments’ renowned multi-asset fund, the Global Absolute Return Strategies Trust (GARS), has been offered to Australian institutional investors since 2009, and wholesale investors since 2014.

*Cash is defined as the Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index
^ For information purposes, we show the historical performance of the underlying master fund, the SICAV Absolute Return Global Bond Strategies Fund [in GBP share class converted from Sterling to Australian Dollar from inception (30 March 2011) to 18 October 2012; then Australian Dollar Share class from 18 October 2012 to 2 June 2014].

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Matthew Newham

Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, is pleased to announce that its highly successful Global Absolute Return Strategies Australian Trust (ARN 125 891 26) is now available to Wholesale Clients via the Asgard Investment platform.

Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) is an award-winning multi-asset strategy, which aims to provide positive returns in all market conditions with reduced volatility compared to equities.

Matthew Newham, Investment Director, Wholesale Business, Standard life Investments, said:

“This latest addition shows that Standard Life Investments’ Absolute Return solutions are building good momentum in the retail sector. Asgard is a well-regarded investment platform and we are delighted that GARS has been added to its investment offering.

“GARS has a proven consistent five-year track record* of returns for Australian investors which is important as investors increasingly shift away from the traditional balanced portfolio of equities and bonds and towards absolute return investing,” Mr Newham said.

“Unlike most traditional investment strategies that aim only to beat market benchmarks, a diversified absolute return approach focuses on delivering positive, stable returns, independent of specific market or economic conditions. Importantly, the absence of a benchmark index allows absolute return managers freedom to exercise full discretion, selecting only those strategies they expect will be rewarding.

“GARS consists of typically 25 to 35 strategies that span global markets, each one selected for its return potential over a three-year horizon. Crucially, we seek strategies that complement each other so the portfolio can work as a whole even when unexpected things happen in the markets,” he said.

“An absolute return approach, offering attractive levels of growth while also limiting the risk of capital loss, merits consideration for every investor’s portfolio.” Mr Newham said.

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Matthew Newham

Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, is pleased to announce that the highly successful Absolute Return Global Bond Strategies (ARGBS) Australian Trust (ARSN 125 897 261) has been added to the Macquarie Wrap platform.

ARGBS is the second multi-asset fund from Standard Life Investments available to wholesale investors, following strong demand for their Global Absolute Returns Strategies (GARS) Australian Trust (ARSN 125 897 261).

Matthew Newham, Investment Director Wholesale Business, Standard Life Investments, said sophisticated investors are now focused on managing risk more effectively and achieving consistent investment returns.

“We’re delighted that Macquarie has added ARGBS to its highly regarded wrap platform. Diversified absolute return strategies such as ARGBS are helping Australian investors to achieve more reliable and consistent returns, but with much lower levels of volatility,” said Mr Newham.

“Being added to platforms like Macquarie Wrap is further evidence that there is growing demand in Australia for absolute return funds with established track records.”

The ARGBS underlying fund was established in March 2011, and the Australian Trust has been made available to wholesale investors since June 2014.

“ARGBS will appeal to investors who are seeking a defensive alternatives strategy with low levels of risk.” said Mr Newham.

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Matthew Newham

Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, is pleased to announce that its highly successful Global Absolute Returns Strategies Australian Trust (ARN 125 891 26) is now available via the Macquarie Wrap platform.

Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) is an award-winning multi-asset strategy, which aims to provide positive returns irrespective of market conditions with reduced volatility compared to equities.

“We are delighted that Macquarie Wrap has added GARS to its investment offering. Macquarie is a well-regarded investment platform and we are thrilled GARS has been added. GARS is building good momentum in the retail sector,” said Matthew Newham, Investment Director Wholesale Business, Standard Life Investments.

The GARS Australian Trust has delivered strong returns since its inception in the Australian market in 2009, delivering an overall net return of 10.1% per annum, over the four years from 2009 to 30 June 2014.

The multi asset strategy has a risk expectation of a third to half of the equity market, with a target return of cash plus 5 per cent per annum (gross of fees), over rolling 3-year periods. The volatility of the fund over the four-year period has been just 4.3% compared to global equity volatility of 9.7% and 12.6% for Australian equities.

“GARS has a proven consistent four-year track record of returns for Australian investors which is important as investors increasingly shift away from the traditional balanced portfolio of equities and bonds and towards absolute return investing,” Mr Newham said.

“Unlike most traditional investment strategies that aim only to beat market benchmarks, a diversified absolute return approach focuses on delivering positive, stable returns, independent of specific market or economic conditions. Importantly, the absence of a benchmark index allows absolute return managers freedom to exercise full discretion, selecting only those strategies they expect will be rewarding.

“GARS consists of typically 25 to 35 strategies that span global markets, each one selected for its return potential over a three-year horizon. Crucially, we seek strategies that complement each other so the portfolio can work as a whole even when unexpected things happen in the markets,” he said.

“An absolute return approach, offering attractive levels of growth while also limiting the risk of capital loss, merits consideration for every investor’s portfolio.” Mr Newham said.

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Matthew Newham

Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, is pleased to announce that its highly successful Global Absolute Returns Strategies Australian Trust (ARN 125 891 261) is now available via BT Wrap platform.

Established in 2006 in the UK, GARS is an award-winning multi-asset strategy which aims to provide positive returns irrespective of market conditions with reduced volatility compared to equities.

GARS Australian Trust (ARSN 125 897 261) has been offered to Australian institutional investors since 2009 and has delivered consistently strong returns. In October 2013, GARS Australian Trust received a ‘Recommended’ by Lonsec.

Matthew Newham, Investment Director Wholesale Business, Standard Life Investments, said:“We are excited to announce that BT Wrap has added GARS Australian Trust to its investment offering. BT Wrap is an award-winning retail investor platform and we are thrilled that GARS has been recognised as a leading absolute return investment choice for Australian retail investors. 

“Today, retail investors are focused on managing risk and achieving consistent returns. Diversified absolute return strategies, such as GARS, are helping Australian investors to achieve equity-like returns but with much lower volatility.

“GARS consists typically of between 25 to 35 strategies that span global markets, with each one selected for its return potential on a three-year horizon. Each of the strategies within GARS complements each other, ensuring the portfolio works as a whole, even when unexpected things happen in the markets. We aim to deliver a positive return each year, irrespective of market conditions, and this requires a very well diversified investment portfolio,” Mr Newham said.

GARS Australian Trust delivered an overall net return of 10.2% per annum, over the four years from inception in 2009 to 31 March 2014. This performance is ahead of its objective of cash + 5% per year (9.2%) gross of fees, over rolling 3-year periods. The volatility of the fund over the four-year period has been just 4.4%, compared to global equity volatility of 9.6% and 12.6% for Australian equities.

“We have received great feedback on GARS from the industry and look forward to continuing to educate advisors and retail investors about the benefits that GARS can bring to their portfolio,” said Mr Newham.

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Advising clients in a post-GFC climate.

Matthew Newham, Investment Director Wholesale Business, Standard Life Investments, said: “The global financial crisis has forced investors to focus on managing risk, and as a result they are moving away from the traditional balanced portfolio of equities and bonds and moving towards real return investing.

“Real return investing has an important role to play in terms of allowing investors to seek growth but also limit downside risk. Absolute return or real return strategies aim to provide positive returns irrespective of market conditions with reduced volatility compared to traditional portfolios.

“Typically, real return funds are not limited by any pre-set strategic asset allocation parameters. The careful portfolio construction offers broader asset diversification designed to deliver positive returns in a wide range of market conditions.”

Founder of the Association of Real Return Investment Advisers, Philip Reid, said: “The aim of the association is to give advisers a forum where they can discuss real return investing and gain a greater understanding of how such strategies can be integrated into clients’ portfolios.

“As independent advisors, we are seeking to get together so we can help each other to evolve best practice by incorporating real or absolute return investment strategies. The group is led by advisers, so they can access the information they need from fund managers to use real return strategies on behalf of their clients.”

The new group currently has four adviser members and four fund manager members, including Standard Life Investments. The group conducts quarterly roundtable meetings, with the next one in May.

Philip Reid continues: “The agenda is led by advisers, rather than fund managers. We want to be educated about the solutions and investigate the tools and seek insights into how we can best use real return strategies for our clients.”

The financial adviser members are Matthew Walker, principal of WLM Financial Services; Alistair Saunders, principal of Northstar Financial Advisers; James Walker-Powell, principal of More4Life Financial Services; and Fergus Hardingham of FM Financial Solutions.

Standard Life Investments’ Global Absolute Return Strategies Australian Trust ARSN 125 897 261 (GARS Australian Trust) is an absolute return strategy available to Australian institutional and retail investors (via selected wholesale platforms). The multi-asset fund aims to deliver a positive absolute return over the medium to long-term in all market conditions.

Matthew Newham added: “Our membership of the Association of Real Return Investment Advisers allows us to educate advisers about the benefits an allocation to an absolute return strategy can provide to a traditional client portfolio.”

GARS Australian Trust delivered an overall return of 10.6% per annum for Australian investors, net of fees, over the four years from inception in 2009 to 31 December 2013 . That performance is ahead of its objective of cash + 5% per year, net of fees, over rolling 3-year periods. The volatility of the fund over the four-year period has been just 4.5% compared to global equity volatility of 10% (12.8% for Australian equities).

GARS Australian Trust relies upon typically 25 to 35 strategies that span global markets, each one selected for its return potential on a three-year horizon. No individual strategy dominates the portfolio and the strategies are designed to complement each other so the portfolio can work as a whole and deliver gains to investors in a variety of market conditions.

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Matthew joins from JANA Investment Advisers, where he was responsible for business development, marketing and communications functions for almost seven years. Previously, he held analyst positions with IWL Limited and Coca Cola Amatil. Matthew brings over 18 years experience working in the financial services industry.

Matthew’s hire follows the appointment of Jill Shaw as Investment Director, responsible for developing the institutional business in Australasia. Jill joined the Sydney office on relocation from Standard Life Investments’ head office in Edinburgh, where she generated new sales and revenue for Standard Life Investments in Europe. Jill has almost 20 years experience working in the financial services industry and holds a BSC Honors in Mathematics.

Both Matthew and Jill report directly to Simone Bouch, Head of Australasia, Standard Life Investments.

Commenting on the appointments Simone Bouch said: “Matthew and Jill’s appointments are further evidence of Standard Life Investments’ long term commitment to the region and growing interest in our investment solutions.

“We are seeing increasing demand from Australian investors for Multi Asset and Fixed Income Absolute Returns Strategies and growing interest in Global Real Estate solutions, where we believe Standard Life Investments offers best of class capabilities.

“Matthew’s experience in business development and building retail operations is highly valuable as we look to expand our business into the wholesale sector and continue to grow our presence in Australasia.

“Jill brings a wealth of experience managing institutional relationships and exceptional knowledge of Standard Life Investments, having commenced with the business in 2006.

“The size and sophistication of the Australian market makes it an important region for Standard Life Investments and I am confident that we have the skills and expertise in place to provide clients with innovative investment solutions and high levels of service.”

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