Key Takeaways
- • iM Global Partner announced on November 29, 2022 that it will launch the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund, a UCITS sub-fund of the Luxembourg-domiciled iMGP SICAV, with Dynamic Beta investments (DBi) as sub-manager.
- • The fund seeks to replicate the pre-fee, pre-trading cost returns of 20 leading managed futures hedge funds using liquid index futures, rebalanced weekly, without investing directly in hedge funds.
- • The strategy's US counterpart, the DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), grew its AUM by more than 1,000% from around USD 60 million to more than USD 1 billion over the past 12 months, with a 1-year return of 24.5% as of November 25, 2022 (per Bloomberg, price-based total return).
- • The launch responds to European client demand for a daily-priced UCITS version of the US product, giving European investors access to managed futures diversification.
Summary
iM Global Partner announced it will launch the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund, a new UCITS sub-fund of the Luxembourg-domiciled iMGP SICAV, in partnership with Dynamic Beta investments (DBi). The fund is designed to give European investors access to the managed futures market, which the firm describes as increasingly popular.
DBi, which the release describes as a pioneer in hedge fund index replication, has been appointed sub-manager of the fund. Andrew Beer, co-portfolio manager of the fund at DBi, said managed futures offer significant diversification potential, particularly in an inflationary environment. He said the vehicle addresses two hurdles DBi set out to solve in 2015: high fees and expenses, and single-manager risk.
The fund seeks to replicate the pre-fee, pre-trading cost returns of 20 leading managed futures hedge funds. It does not invest directly in hedge funds. Instead, DBi uses quantitative models to estimate the current factor weights of the targeted funds and invests in index futures to seek similar exposures. The portfolio is rebalanced weekly and is priced daily.
iM Global Partner cited the performance of the US-domiciled DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF) as the basis for the launch. According to the release, citing Bloomberg data as of November 25, 2022, DBMF's assets under management rose more than 1,000%, from around USD 60 million a year earlier to more than USD 1 billion, and it posted a 1-year return of 24.5%. The release states that DBMF has been available to US investors for more than three years and is the largest managed futures ETF in the industry. Past performance does not predict future returns, and returns may vary with currency fluctuations.
Jamie Hammond, Deputy CEO and Head of International Distribution at iM Global Partner, said European clients had asked whether the firm would launch a UCITS version of DBMF, and that this fund responds to that request. Philippe Uzan, Deputy CEO and CIO Global Asset Management at iM Global Partner, said DBMF posted positive returns in each of the six months in 2022 when global bonds and equities were both negative, and recorded gains of 1.8% in 2020 and 11.2% in 2021. These figures are also sourced to Bloomberg as of November 25, 2022.
DBi, which the release describes as a pioneer in hedge fund index replication, has been appointed sub-manager of the fund. Andrew Beer, co-portfolio manager of the fund at DBi, said managed futures offer significant diversification potential, particularly in an inflationary environment. He said the vehicle addresses two hurdles DBi set out to solve in 2015: high fees and expenses, and single-manager risk.
The fund seeks to replicate the pre-fee, pre-trading cost returns of 20 leading managed futures hedge funds. It does not invest directly in hedge funds. Instead, DBi uses quantitative models to estimate the current factor weights of the targeted funds and invests in index futures to seek similar exposures. The portfolio is rebalanced weekly and is priced daily.
iM Global Partner cited the performance of the US-domiciled DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF) as the basis for the launch. According to the release, citing Bloomberg data as of November 25, 2022, DBMF's assets under management rose more than 1,000%, from around USD 60 million a year earlier to more than USD 1 billion, and it posted a 1-year return of 24.5%. The release states that DBMF has been available to US investors for more than three years and is the largest managed futures ETF in the industry. Past performance does not predict future returns, and returns may vary with currency fluctuations.
Jamie Hammond, Deputy CEO and Head of International Distribution at iM Global Partner, said European clients had asked whether the firm would launch a UCITS version of DBMF, and that this fund responds to that request. Philippe Uzan, Deputy CEO and CIO Global Asset Management at iM Global Partner, said DBMF posted positive returns in each of the six months in 2022 when global bonds and equities were both negative, and recorded gains of 1.8% in 2020 and 11.2% in 2021. These figures are also sourced to Bloomberg as of November 25, 2022.
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