New fund launch from Martin Currie

Martin Currie is looking to add to its Luxembourg domiciled Sicav range, with the launch of a UCITS IV compliant global emerging markets fund later this year, subject to regulatory approval.

The Martin Currie GF ‐ Global Emerging Markets Fund will be managed by veteran Kim Catechis supported by a team of 7 specialists. The actively managed portfolio will consist of 40‐60 best ideas unconstrained at a country and sector level, and will target incremental value above the MSCI global emerging markets index.

Kim Catechis joined Martin Currie in October 2010 as head of global emerging markets and has 23 years’ investment experience. He is supported by Alastair Reynolds, Andrew Ness, Jeff Casson, Divya Mathur, Mohammed Zaidi , James Chong and Andrew Mathewson all of whom have extensive experience in emerging markets. Kim and his team are fluent in a number of languages which affords us the ability to yield useful insights into the culture, political and economic climate of the countries we visit.

Since taking on the management of the Martin Currie Emerging Markets OEIC the team has delivered top quartile performance against the peer group:
As of 1 July, all funds in the Martin Currie GF Sicav range will be UCITS IV compliant. The funds are currently registered for sale in Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, with USD, Sterling and Euro share classes available.

Commenting on the planned launch, Andy Sowerby, managing director, sales, marketing and client service said: “Emerging market equities are an increasingly important asset class and with the appointments of Kim Catechis, Alastair Reynolds, Andrew Ness, Jeff Casson, Divya Mathur and Mohammed Zaidi in 2010, we made it clear that we wanted to build a globally competitive emerging market capability. . We believe we have done just that and we are now delighted to open up our offering to a broader range of investors.”