Fundraising

AXA and Bramdean launch alternatives retail fund

Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management has teamed up with AXA’s Isle of Man operation to launch a new fund that will give retail investors easier access to alternative assets and the bumper returns that institutional investors have been enjoying in recent years.

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Bramdean Asset Management, the investment business led by Nicola Horlick, is launching a listed fund that will allow retail investors to put money into alternative assets.

The Bramdean vehicle, which will float on the London Stock Exchange in July, will invest in a range of alternatives, including private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure and real estate.

French institution AXA is offering investors the opportunity to invest via an offshore “bond wrapper” set up by its Isle of Man operation. This will allow AXA’s bond investors easy access to the new vehicle.

AXA said the fund was launched because of increased demand from investors for access to alternatives investment. Minimum investment in the vehicle will be £1,000, well below the normal entry level for alternatives funds, which is intended to open up the asset class to investors who would previously have been unable to access it.

Horlick said: “The time is right for alternative investments to be more readily available to investors beyond ultra high net worth and institutional clients.  For some time it has been clear that there is increasing investment demand for alternative assets and the performance of pension funds which have embraced this asset class demonstrates why alternatives deserve serious consideration.”