The Dublin-based Lazard Global Controlled Volatility Fund is managed by a nine-strong team led by portfolio managers Susanne Willumsen in London and Paul Moghtader in Boston.
The aim of the fund is to protect assets during extreme market events, and a quantitative approach is used to lower volatility within the portfolio when compared with its benchmark – the MSCI World Index.
It is intended to be a highly diversified fund holding between 250 and 350 stocks at any one time with a turnover of between 40% and 60% per year.
Willumsen said: "The commonly held belief that high volatility stocks outperform over the long term is not necessarily based on fact. Our research shows that investment in lower volatility equity portfolios result in returns that can be similar to that of the broad market.”
Bill Smith, CEO of Lazard Asset Management in London, added: "Recent uncertainty in economic and geo-political conditions have significantly added to volatility in equity markets.
“Lower volatility equity portfolios can provide a solution for investors who cannot tolerate the volatility in asset prices but need the long term capital appreciation that equities can offer."
