The Luxembourg arm of the Aviva group is to launch a new fund of funds on 24 June 2004.
The Luxembourg arm of the Aviva group is to launch a new fund of funds on 24 June 2004. Aviva Multimanager Fund is a Luxembourg domiciled SICAV organised into nine sub-funds comprising three risk-rated portfolios (cautious, mixed and growth) each denominated in three currencies (euro, US$ and GBP sterling). Each sub-fund aims to provide capital growth by investing in other collective investment schemes which may themselves invest in equities, bonds or money market instruments according to the risk profile of the relevant sub-fund.
The investment manager of Aviva Multimanager Fund is Morley Fund Management Ltd ("Morley"), the asset management company of the Aviva group. Morley has appointed Investment Manager Selection Ltd ("IMS") as portfolio manager responsible for selecting the underlying funds within each of the portfolios. IMS is a specialist, independent investment management selection company, with over US$ 2 billion of assets under management. The eight-strong board of selectors at IMS under Richard Timberlake has over 130 years combined experience in the investment industry.
Initially, Norwich Union International’s Dublin-based bond products will be the sole investors in Aviva Multimanager Fund. However, Aviva’s Luxembourg subsidiary has plans to register the SICAV for sale in some of its target markets in the near future.
The benefits of the multimanager structure include:
- Relative security during volatile market conditions due to diversification by sector, market, investment style and fund management company
- Best of breed funds from each sector and manager
- Clearly-defined risk profiles
- Easier selection for investors and their advisers
Commenting on the benefits of the new SICAV for investors, Alan Gadd, managing director, UK and European retail at Morley said: "The diversification benefits of multimanager products for both institutional and retail investors and their advisers are numerous. Aviva Multimanager will allow investors to diversify across sectors, markets and fund management companies within a single investment vehicle, and with access to the best funds in each category. It should be remembered that different investment styles perform better under different market conditions. One of the skills of the portfolio manager is to understand the prevailing investment environment and to select the most suitable investment style for that environment."
On the appointment of IMS as portfolio manager to Aviva Multimanager, Alan Gadd added: "Morley believes that selection and monitoring of the best underlying funds for multimanager products is a full time occupation. The universe of funds available to the portfolio manager is huge and is best left to the specialists. Multimanager products are only as good as their fund selectors and the underlying funds are only as good as their individual managers. We believe that IMS is one of the best multimanager fund selection companies in the market, with tried and tested processes combining qualitative research and quantitative analysis."
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For further information:
Stephen Roberts
Head of European Retail Marketing
tel: +352 40 28 20 319
fax: +352 40 83 58 319
e-mail: stephen.roberts@avivafunds.com
Notes to editors:
- Key features of the Aviva Multimanager Fund:
- Launch date: 24 June 2004
- Dealing: Daily
- Domicile: Luxembourg, UCITS III qualifying
- Available share classes:
Institutional (I) Class – Accumulation (I1) and Income (I2) shares. Private (P) Class – Accumulation (P1) and Income (P2) shares.
- Charges/commissions:
| Minimum Investment | Maximum Charges | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| euro | US$ | GBP | Initial | Annual | |
| I class | 1 million | 1 million | 600,000 | 5% | 1.0% |
| P Class | 3,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 5% | 1.5% |
- Redemption fee: None
- Morley Fund Management Limited is the investment manager of Aviva Multimanager Fund and is a member of the Norwich Union Marketing group, members of which are authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority for life assurance, pensions and investments. Morley Fund Management Limited is an Aviva company
- Aviva is one of the leading providers of life and pensions to Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world’s seventh-largest insurance group based on gross world-wide premiums
- Aviva’s principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with world-wide premium income and retail investment sales from continuing operations of Ł30 billion and assets under management of more than Ł240 billion as at 31 December 2003.