The Luxembourg-domiciled Franklin K2 Alternative Strategies Fund was soft launched a month ago, and follows the same strategy as its US-domiciled equivalent, which was launched in October 2013.
The multi-manager, multi-strategy SICAV Fund, which currently manages $49.7m, is focussed on providing access to a “diversified portfolio of alternative investment strategies managed by institutional-quality hedge fund managers”.
The company said it seeks to provide investors with lower correlations to traditional asset classes, reduced portfolio volatility, and attractive risk-adjusted returns, while also offering daily liquidity.
The fund’s investments are managed by US solutions company K2 Advisors, which Franklin Templeton acquired in 2012. Its co-lead portfolio managers are David Saunders, co-founding managing director at K2, and Brooks Ritchey and Rob Christian, who are both senior managing directors.
“Attractive risk-adjusted returns”
K2 said it “continually adjusts” its allocations within the fund to reflect its top-down market views and provide capital appreciation and lower volatility relative to the broader equity markets.
On the launch, Saunders said: “In today’s volatile, low-interest rate environment, many investors are looking for actively-managed investment solutions from established managers employing strategies that can help reduce volatility in unpredictable markets, while providing attractive risk adjusted returns.
“We believe this fund is an ideal solution to meet those needs, and we are thrilled to offer retail investors access to several of the strategies and managers that K2’s institutional investors have long had access to.”
Christian added that the fund provides “an important tool in the arsenal” for investors looking to complement their fixed income and equity holdings.
Click here for a factsheet about the new product.
K2 Advisors provides integrated hedge fund product solutions to institutional and high-net-worth investors worldwide.
Franklin Templeton acquired K2 in November 2012 when it purchased a majority interest in its parent company, K2 Advisors Holdings.
