Julius Baer opens luxury brands fund to UK investors

Julius Baer has launched its Luxury Brands fund into the UK.

Managed by Lipper award-winning Dr Scilla Huang Sun, the fund will give UK investors access to a carefully-selected portfolio of global luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Hermes. The fund was originally launched on 31 January 2008 and currently has around £30m under management.

Sun, who has 17 years experience in asset management, with eight years in the luxury goods sector, believes the outlook is very positive.

"While many people are tightening their belts, the wealthy are still spending," she said. "We have seen a growth in luxury goods sales over the past six months and there is likely to be continuing demand, particularly among Asian consumers."

Sun cited China as an example, where it is expected that demand for luxury goods will double over the next five years. She also argues that, historically, luxury goods sales have proven to be less affected by recession when compared to more cyclical consumer goods.

The fund will initially be open to wealth managers, insurance companies, investment banks and fund of funds. Since launch, it has returned -4.8pc compared to -8.1pc for the MSCI World index and -11pc for the MSCI World Consumer Discretionary index (to 26 August 2008, according to Lipper Hindsight).

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