In The News - CityWire - "Altana Wealth launches Ucits version of its systematic US equity long/short fund"

London-based boutique Altana Wealth has launched a Ucits version of its systematic US equity long/short fund.

The Altana Director Alignment Strategy Ucits fund was launched as a sub-fund of the Irish-domiciled Altana Ucits fund umbrella.

Previously trading as a managed account, the original fund has been trading live with Goldman Sachs since September 2016.

The fund is managed by Alphons Vermorken and aims to invest in stocks with a market cap of over $1 billion. It also aims to generate alpha on both the long and short book by filtering directors’ transactions.

The fund currently has long positions in financials (38.1%), energy (24.7%) and consumer, non-cyclical (24.3%). It also has short exposure in sectors such as consumer cyclical (46.8%), industrial (17.9%), tech (17.7%) and financials (17.6%).

In order to have liquidity and lower volatility, the team only considers companies with a market cap of above €1 billion on the long side and over $2 billion on the short side.

In a statement to Citywire Selector, Altana said: ‘After two years of research and back-testing we started trading the Altana Director Alignment Strategy (ADAS) live in 2016, it finished the year up 22%. It was always our intention to make it available in Ucits form.’

Source: CityWire Selector by Terri-Ann Williams