Smith & Williamson launches Artificial Intelligence Fund

Smith & Williamson has launched its actively managed global thematic Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Fund.
The high-conviction, unconstrained equity fund, managed by former Pictet managers Chris Ford and Tim Day, offers investors pure exposure to a concentrated portfolio of companies that derive most, or all, of their revenues and growth from AI.
This Fund will explicitly seek purity of revenue exposure to those businesses globally benefitting from AI. At launch, it will have exposure to sectors including financial services, industrials, consumer services, and healthcare as well as a core of technology companies.
The Fund will itself use and benefit from AI being embedded within the investment process. This proprietary model will enhance the efficiency with which the managers can identify companies offering the best exposure to AI.
To mark the launch, Smith & Williamson is making the institutional share classes of the Fund – which have an annual management charge of 0.50% – available to all investors for an initial three month period, waiving the usual investment minimums for these classes during this period.
Chris Ford says: “AI systems sit at the nexus of several powerful and rapidly developing technologies, each of which have a critical role to play. Today, these systems are being deployed across the economy, bringing with them huge benefits.
“The Fund will explicitly look to offer purity of revenue exposure to those businesses benefitting most from AI. That is why, with wonderful examples of great AI technologies to be found all over the world, this Fund will be truly global and unconstrained by sector or geographic benchmarks.”
Ed Rosengarten, Head of Funds at Smith & Williamson, says: “Structural growth opportunities of this magnitude rarely arise and this is an exciting time to launch a fund with the team, process and resource required to identify, and invest, in those companies best placed to benefit from the inexorable rise of AI. We look forward to Chris and Tim leveraging their considerable expertise and proprietary model investment process with the aim of delivering attractive returns for our clients.”
The Fund is the first launch for Ford and Day since they joined Smith & Williamson in 2015, having previously co-led Pictet Asset Management’s Global Equities business in London. Ford has two decades of experience in North American and Global equity markets, specialising in the technology sector. Day has three decades of experience in North American and Global equities.