Quilter has announced the launch of the Quilter Investors Absolute Equity Fund, a sub-advised mandate for use within the WealthSelect managed portfolio service (MPS).

The mandate will be managed by Janus Henderson and aim to provide positive returns, regardless of market conditions, over a 12-month period.

It will use a long/short equity strategy that invests in large and mega cap companies, primarily in the UK but also in Europe and the US.

The fund is based on the Janus Henderson Absolute Return Fund and managed by Ben Wallace and Luke Newman.

Quilter said that the new mandate follows a similar approach, utilising ‘core’ (focusing on companies with strong cashflows and fundamentals) and ‘tactical’ (looking for market anomalies) strategies for portfolio construction.

The wealth manager uses a range of sub-advised mandates, alongside third-party funds, across its multi-asset investment solutions, as it believes this offers portfolio managers a wide range of high-quality strategies across asset classes, sectors, and geographies.

Quilter also announced that it has appointed Jupiter to manage the Quilter Investors UK Equity Growth Fund, which will be managed by Chris Smith, who managed Jupiter’s UK Growth Fund that the sub-advised mandate will be based on.

“We have been looking for a fund that can nicely complement our existing alternative and absolute return exposure, and we have great confidence in the team at Janus Henderson,” said Quilter WealthSelect portfolio manager, Stuart Clark.

“Many all-weather strategies have aimed to achieve an absolute return but have fallen short, yet this strategy is somewhat an outlier in terms of having been able to meet its objectives over a circa 20-year time period.

“The team is incredibly experienced, and our analysis shows that the style of the fund is genuinely different from most other long/short managers. We are excited to add this position to the portfolios to help us navigate clients through what is an uncertain market.

“We are also really pleased to be bringing the team at Jupiter on board to run our UK Equity Growth Fund. Chris Smith and the team there have a strong and consistent growth-centric investment process and have a proven history of identifying high-quality growing companies in the UK, but crucially at attractive valuations.”

Janus Henderson head of UK client group, Pat Sanderson, added: “We’re thrilled to build on our valued partnership with Quilter through the launch of the Quilter Investors Absolute Return Equity Fund.

“With a multi-decade track record of delivering consistent positive absolute returns, Ben and Luke bring a proven strategy that complements Quilter’s multi-asset solutions, and aligns with their focus on supporting clients through all market conditions."

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