Threadneedle has announced plans to launch the Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha Fund, reinforcing the company’s absolute return fund range, anticipating significant reform and responding to client appetite for a UK absolute alpha product. The UCITS III fund will give co-managers Mark Westwood and Chris Kinder increased flexibility in strategy and fund positioning.

Threadneedle has £1.9bn AUM in absolute return, across a broad range of products and strategies, and has more than nine years’ experience in single strategy hedge funds. Both Westwood and Kinder have proven long/short experience and have built strong track records of adding alpha under different market conditions. The UK equities investment team is supported by a solid operational infrastructure and independent risk analysis and has access to over 100 investment professionals across all asset classes and regions.

Westwood, co-manager of the Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha fund, said: “This is an exciting time to leverage our expertise in delivering absolute returns for our clients. With the dislocations of the past few years still fresh in investors’ minds, the opportunity to add value through fundamental and valuation analysis on a long/short basis remain considerable. The Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha Fund will use the process and techniques that we have successfully employed over the years in our Cayman-domiciled absolute return fund”.

Kinder, co-manager of the Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha fund, added: “This fund enables a broader range of investors to access uncorrelated returns through the cycle. We are looking forward to monetising the significant opportunities that our research has uncovered on both sides of the book, to deliver value to a broader range of investors.”