GLG brings Lagrange hedge fund to UK

GLG has bought its flagship European long-short hedge fund, managed by GLG co-founder Pierre Lagrange, to the UK market.

The group has launched a UCITS version of the strategy, the GLG European Equity Alternative fund, to be headed by Lagrange and Simon Savage as part of parent company Man Group’s continued expansion in the retail space.

The strategy aims to deliver sustainable capital growth for investors with a portfolio of long and short equities.

It has delivered 45% and 40% to dollar and euro investors respectively over the last five years, according to Trustnet, using a strategy focused on both growth and capital preservation.

Lagrange and Savage run the fund by allocating capital to an internal team of specialist book managers using a risk budget asset allocation process.

The fund also attempts to protect capital by ensuring the fund is market neutral, with Lagrange and Savage limiting mandate exposure on the long and short side to 5% at all times.

Lagrange said the group is launching the Ireland-domiciled fund now, amid the ongoing European debt crisis, as the outlook for stocks and sectors is divided.

“The mixed outlook for recovery in Europe offers multiple opportunities for this strategy and we are pleased to be able to offer it more widely,” he said.

“Equity long-short can confer greater alpha, lower market beta and more consistent returns than traditional long-only disciplines.”

Lagrange established GLG in 1995 with partners Noam Gottesman and Jonathan Green, as part of a division of Lehman Brothers.