Bennelong Funds Management boutique Kardinia Capital has opened its Absolute Return Fund to retail investors, with the product disclosure statement likely to be available today.
The fund currently holds around $24 million, predominantly on behalf of family offices, high net worth individuals and charitable organisations.
Portfolio manager Mark Burgess said the likely capacity of the fund was around $500 million, but it may be closed earlier than that if the team felt it had reached an appropriate level.
With the fund already having attracted a ‘highly recommended’ rating from Zenith, Burgess said he was hopeful the fund would be made available on several dealer group-approved product lists as well as on wraps and platforms.
"We’ve had good feedback from advisers suggesting the demand is there," he said.
There are not many Australian equity absolute return funds available to the retail market, Burgess said.
Most such funds tend to be wholesale products targeted at the institutional market and there are very few opportunities for investors with smaller amounts of money to get exposure to these strategies, he said.
The minimum investment in the fund will now be $20,000, he said.
Burgess said he was attracted to Bennelong because it had a strong brand and a pedigree in absolute return investment, with strong distribution capabilities.
"That means as an investment team we can focus on managing the fund and not have to worry about peripheral issues," he said.
