Jupiter is to launch a European Absolute Return fund for Cédric de Fonclare and Stephen Pearson.
The Ucits III vehicle marks the first time the long/short investment capabilities of Pearson, the Jupiter Europa hedge fund manager, will be available to investors in a regulated environment.
It will also utilise the long-only expertise of de Fonclare, the Jupiter European Special Situations fund manager.
The managers will build a portfolio of 50-80 long and short positions in individual European companies.
Benchmarked against three-month Euribor, the fund will typically have a net exposure between -30% and 60%; while gross exposure is limited to 200%.
"The high levels of market volatility in the last two years have demonstrated the benefits of funds that aim to offer smoother, steadier returns," Pearson says.
"I have worked with Cédric for the past eight years as part of the Jupiter European team and for the past year specifically on this project as we have brought it to market.
"We are both very excited about combining our skills on this fund to the benefit of our investors.''
The launch date will be 4 January 2010 for institutional investment and is subject to obtaining relevant registrations for retail investment.
