Standard Life Investments has been appointed as the fund’s investment manager, which has managed absolute return assets since 2005 and has more than $40bn under management and over 1,200 institutional clients.
Two investment directors of Standard Life Investments, including Ian Pizer and Roger Sadewsky will act as portfolio managers for the GCAR fund, which has been designed to assist a UK corporate client diversify its fixed income portfolio.
John Hancock Funds president & CEO Andrew Arnott said that the new GCAR fund enables investors to diversify their portfolios through an absolute return strategy with potentially lower volatility, zero equity exposure, and a more conservative investment approach.
"GCAR may also potentially act as a fixed income substitute for investors who are concerned about rising interest rates and correlation to broad fixed income markets," Arnott added.
With no equity or equity-like exposure, GCAR seeks long-term absolute return and directs the fund to have a fundamentally different risk/return spectrum that looks to deliver a return commensurate with a lowered risk profile.
By investing in listed debt securities, and derivatives or other instruments, the fund aims to exploit market cyclicality and a diverse array of inefficiencies across and within global markets to achieve risk-adjusted absolute return.
