Skandia Investment Group makes £19m investment in Liontrust Credit Absolute Return Fund

Press Release

Skandia Investment Group (SIG) has added the Liontrust Credit Absolute Return Fund to a number of its leading portfolios in a tactical investment worth £19m.
The Liontrust Credit Absolute Return Fund, managed by Simon Thorp and James Sclater, is a UCITS III absolute return fund focused on credit opportunities across Europe. The Fund invests in both long and short opportunities and focuses on the most liquid parts of the credit markets.
Thorp and Sclater – who between them have 40 years’ experience – are supported in managing the fund by analysts Paul Owens and Quentin Peacock. While the Liontrust Credit Absolute Return Fund has only been launched recently, the team has a very successful track record with their Liontrust Credit Hedge Fund, which returned 141% (euro share class) from launch in October 2000 to the end of September 2010 (Source: Liontrust), is managed using the same investment process but different levels of risk and is only available to professional investors.
SIG’s £19m investment has come from a number of its multi-manager funds, including the Skandia Diversified Fund, Skandia Bond Income Fund and the Skandia Alternative Investments Fund.
Adam Smears, SIG head of fixed interest research, says:
“The fund provides low interest rate exposure but has the ability to add value through credit selection and credit spread capture. As government bond yields are now very low – although credit spreads are still relatively wide – it is important that managers can go short as well as long, allowing them to generate returns in many different environments. The Liontrust team has a proven track record in doing just that and we are very happy to add the fund to a number of our portfolios.”
Mickey Morrissey, head of third party distribution, Liontrust, said:
“We are extremely pleased with SIG’s decision to invest in the fund. This is a great endorsement of Liontrust as a business and our credit team in particular, which is one of the longest established long/short credit teams in Europe.”