Pioneer Funds – Multi Asset Real Return is a go-anywhere, global fund that mirrors a US-domiciled product which was launched in May last year and is run by Michele Garau.
Garau runs the Luxembourg-based offering as lead manager alongside Kenneth Taubes as head of investment management US, and Howard Weiss, associate portfolio manager.
The fund aims to invest in best-in-class ideas, providing consistent returns as well as offering downside protection across lowly-correlated assets.
Garau and his team confirmed that the fund will not be constrained by single asset classes to hedge inflation, but can gain exposure to a broad spectrum of traditional financial securities and real assets through closed-ended funds.
“We believe that the flexible, dynamic approach to asset allocation we use in this fund offers an advantage over a more limited inflation-hedging strategy focused largely on TIPS [Treasury Inflation Protected Securities]," said Taubes, US chief investment officer.
“What we seek to do is protect purchasing power over the course of an economic cycle by investing in a wide range of asset classes that may have low correlations to each other and to the broader equity and bond markets.”
He added that the fund is positioned to defend against what he describes as the “eventual rise” in interest rates.
The Luxembourg-domiciled fund is registered for sale in France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. Its H-share class has a minimum investment limit of €1m.
The annual management charge is a maximum of 15%, including a performance fee.
For the performance fee to be applied, performance of the fund in a calendar year must be positive in absolute terms, and more than 300 basis points higher than the prevailing level of US inflation.
