Argonaut marks 5th anniversary with top-decile performance
– £330 million Ignis Argonaut European Alpha Fund posts top-decile returns over 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, posting a total return of 95.6% since launch*
– Barry Norris, manager of the Ignis Argonaut European Alpha Fund, has outperformed his respective European peer group in 8 out of the 9 years* that he has been managing European equities
– £467 million Ignis Argonaut European Income Fund posts highest historic yield (4.7%)∆ relative to its European peer group since launch and would be first-quartile on a total return basis if placed in the IMA UK Equity Income and Income & Growth sectors, outperforming the average UK equity income fund by 12.6% since launch**
– Argonaut’s assets under management exceed £1 billion (inc offshore and inst mandates) at 5th anniversary
– New European Enhanced Income Fund launched April 2010
Leading European equities boutique, Argonaut Capital Partners, who manage in excess of £1 billion, has marked its fifth anniversary having generated impressive performance for its flagship European Alpha and European Income funds.
Argonaut, a joint venture between Ignis Asset Management and Argonaut founders Barry Norris and Oliver Russ, celebrated its fifth anniversary on 12 May 2010. Over the five-year period since inception Argonaut has launched four onshore funds: the Ignis Argonaut European Alpha Fund; Ignis Argonaut European Income Fund; Ignis Argonaut European Absolute Return Fund and Ignis Argonaut European Enhanced Income Fund. Argonaut has also launched two offshore funds: the Ignis International Argonaut Pan European Alpha Fund and the Ignis International Argonaut Pan European Dividend Income Fund. In addition, Argonaut manages a range of European segregated mandates on behalf of global institutional investors.
Argonaut European Alpha Fund
Managed by Barry Norris, the £330 million Argonaut European Alpha Fund has a consistent track record of outperformance ranking in the top-decile of its IMA Europe ex UK peer group over one, two, three, four and five years. Since launch on 12 May 2005, the fund has outperformed the MSCI Europe ex UK sector average by more than 40%, returning 95.6% against a median fund average of 51.9%.* Since inception, the fund is ranked fourth out of 79 in its sector and is rated ‘A’ by both Standard & Poor’s and OBSR.
Argonaut European Income Fund
Since launch on 15 December 2005, the pioneering £467 million Ignis Argonaut European Income fund, managed by Oliver Russ, has been the highest yielding European income fund, with a historic yield of 4.7%.∆ Since launch, the fund would be placed in the top-quartile of the IMA UK Equity Income and Income & Growth sectors, having outperformed the average UK equity income fund by 12.6%.** The fund, one of the lowest risk funds in its sector, was awarded a four-star rating by Morningstar in 2009, based on three-year risk-adjusted returns. It is also rated ‘A’ by both Standard & Poor’s and OBSR.
Argonaut European Enhanced Income Fund
Launched on 30 April 2010, the Argonaut European Enhanced Income Fund is the latest addition to the Argonaut stable. Managed by Oliver Russ, the fund, which reduces currency risk by hedging returns to sterling,¹ is the first onshore fund to employ a covered call strategy² to generate additional income from overseas equity markets. The fund is based substantially on the existing European Income Fund and has a target yield of 7% in its first year and between 5% and 9% per annum thereafter, depending on market conditions.
Barry Norris, founding partner of Argonaut Capital Partners, says:
“Markets have been incredibly volatile over the last three years so we are delighted that we have been able to maintain our funds’ consistent outperformance though various market conditions including the strong bull market, the credit crunch, the subsequent rally and the Greek crisis, whilst continuing to attract assets in what is, in our view, an unjustly unloved asset class.
“With sovereign risk within the Eurozone a major issue, country selection has become more important to investors. We believe the next decade will see core European countries like Germany perform very well and more peripheral countries like Spain fare poorly. Olly and I are continuing to concentrate on the myriad of growth and income opportunities in the former category, with a particular emphasis on those companies for whom the weak euro will be highly beneficial.
“We believe our process and approach has stood the test of time and variable market conditions and we look forward to many more years of successful investing in European markets. With the recent launch of our European Enhanced Income Fund – which gives yield investors access to many world-leading companies without the currency risk – we believe we have a comprehensive and innovative fund range for investors seeking exposure to this underappreciated and undervalued asset class.”