French asset management firm Tobam has launched its smart beta multi-asset fund in the UK.
Smart beta is a process of investing passively, but instead of ranking the underlying investments by size as traditional passive investments are it ranks them by other criteria.
The fund has existed in Europe since 2016, and the managers tend not to take a view on the economic outlook or the wider market and instead claim to run the multi-asset fund from a "bottom-up" perspective, that is, by examining individual underlying investments.
The fund doesn't take significant exposure to any one asset class or economic theme, and instead seeks to diversify across the market.
Christophe Roehri, deputy chief executive of Tobam, said: "In an environment where markets have arguably become increasingly difficult to forecast – looking back at recent events such as Brexit, the US presidential elections or last year’s financial market downturn - Tobam offers for the first time a proven and robust multi-asset solution that does not rely on the ability to implement the right scenario."
Tom Sparke, investment director at GDIM, a discretionary fund management firm in Cambridge, said this approach to multi-asset was "different to most mainstream multi-asset funds."
Mr Sparke said: "In a time when diversification could be key and active share is scrutinised it could represent a useful strategy.
"I would have some concerns on its capture of upward market movements but the volatility should be low in comparison to its peers."
david.thorpe@ft.com
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