Issue 3 2020

30 Acquisition International - Issue 3 2020 Feb20267 Asset management is a competitive industry - generating attractive returns in today’s fast-moving and sophisticated financial markets is no easy task. So, for Managing Partners Group (MPG) to win the prestigious Acquisition International Magazine’s ‘ Most Outstanding Asset Management Company 2020 – Europe ’ is a mark of distinction. lternative asset classes attract investors MPG offers alternative investments, which is a sector of the market enjoying increasing interest from investors. The Global Financial Crisis taught investors the hard way that there is no benefit in diversifying between equities and bonds when both asset classes go south. And the negative impacts caused by the corona crisis this year is yet another reminder of just how fragile financial markets can be. Investors, especially those who are more sophisticated, now want innovative alternatives to traditional asset classes. They are mostly risk-averse but low interest rates have meant many of them are turning to low-risk products that still generate inflation-beating income - an area in which MPG specialises. And as the world moves into the latter stages of the economic cycle, monetary policies tighten and Quantitative Tapering gathers momentum, investors will become all the more focused on alternative investments. Regular income, capital growth and low volatility MPG is a multi-faceted investment house that specialises in managing alternative asset classes for institutions and sophisticated investors. We are a market leader in structuring and managing mutual funds, securitisation vehicles and asset-backed securities transactions and manage a wide range of financial products that principally invest in property, life settlements, fixed income, absolute return and hedge fund asset classes. Our investment solutions offer low volatility with the potential for regular income or steady capital growth. Global leader in core asset class A core asset class for MPG is life settlements, also known as traded life policies. This is a sector in which we are a global leader. Life settlements are US-issued life insurance policies that have been sold by the original owner at a discount to their future maturity value and are institutionally traded through a highly regulated secondary market. A key attraction is that they have a very low correlation with equities and bonds because returns are largely driven by life expectancy estimates as well as other supply and demand factors unrelated to financial markets. A Managing Partners Group Offers Investment Solutions To Weather All Market Conditions The High Protection Fund Our award-winning High Protection Fund is the flagship in our range of life settlement investment vehicles. It is an absolute return fund that aims to deliver long-term capital growth of between 8-9% per annum by investing in a portfolio of life settlements. Its USD Growth share class has in fact exceeded this, having delivered annualised performance of 11.83% (net of charges), from its launch in July 2009 to end-January 2020. The volatility of the High Protection Fund has been extremely low. A key factor in this low volatility is the quality and diversification of the assets held in its portfolio. The credit ratings of the underlying insurers who have issued the policies are strong: the average rating is very high at AA. The spread of issuers is also broad, across as many investment grade counterparties as achievable. Melius Fixed Income Fund Our latest product launch, the Melius Fixed Income Fund offers the traditional benefits of a core bond approach, such as low volatility and steady returns, while having a low correlation with global financial markets. It aims to achieve absolute, long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of fixed income and high yield debt securities. The management team, based in Geneva, can stock-pick opportunities within the broadest of investment parameters, taking advantage of risk-returns that compare favourably with those available in mainstream bond markets. Since its launch on 31 October 2019, its CHF Growth share class has returned 1.54% (net of charges), to end-January 2020, equivalent to an annualised performance of 6.17%. Liquidus FX Fund Investors who want the security of a cash fund with a high rate of interest have their needs met in the highly versatile Liquidus FX Fund. It has the added attraction of offering investors an optional credit card secured against their invested assets. Liquidus invests in a balanced-managed currency portfolio that leverages an algorithm with a strong track record. The Fund uses short-term money market and derivative instruments such as forward currency contracts, index swaps and options and cash deposits. Its USD-denominated share class has delivered an annualised 2.83% (net of charges), to end-January 2020 since its launch in November 2018.