Marshall Wace has created a company that invests in European Trade Optimised Portfolio System (Tops) strategies.
The Guernsey closed-ended investment company, called MW Tops, is managed by Anthony Clake, and will initially invest in two existing Marshall Wace European Tops strategies.
The company will target annual returns net of fees and expenses of 12% to 16% with a volatility of 5% to 7%.
Firstly, the vehicle will use the Opportunistic Tops strategy, which trades on the basis of investment ideas driven by stock and market momentum, prevailing themes and stock-specific events.
Clake has been running this portfolio since July 2002 and it has achieved an annualised return to 31 October of 23.18%.
Secondly, it will invest in the Fundamental Tops vehicle, which trades on the basis of investment ideas driven by valuation and fundamental criteria such as earnings, growth and outlook for a specific stock.
Clake has been running this portfolio since October 2003 and it has returned an annualised return of 20.33% to 31 October. However, he may expand the strategies used in MW Tops as the vehicle develops.
Paul Marshall, chairman and a co-founder of Marshall Wace, said: "The office is a logical next step as we seek to broaden substantially the Tops investor base. MW Tops will enable investors to access the Tops strategies directly through a listed vehicle, which will be subject to the highest standards of governance."
Marshall Wace developed the Tops process to capture investment information generated by investment banks and regional brokers, through their sales and research departments, and specialist research boutiques.
Salespeople from these companies are selected by Marshall Wace to contribute their highest conviction ideas to the product.
The minimum investment is £50,000. Shares will also be available in euro and dollar. MW Tops also has an investment management fee of 2% and a 20% performance fee on absolute returns.
There is no fee layering and the investment management and performance fee are only paid on the MW Top vehicle.
A trail fee of 0.5% per annum of the net asset value (Nav) is payable by Marshall Wace for five years to qualifying investors on retention of shares subscribed in the offering. key points
Marshall Wace launches company that invests in Tops strategies
The product uses the highest conviction ideas of investment banks