HSBC to launch UCITS European Absolute Return Fund

The fund will look to invest across developed Europe, primarily via equities and equity swaps.

The fund, which will run by a team headed up by Vis Nayar, will use more short positions to diversify risk, holding about 80 stocks, typically split between 35 long and 45 short.

The HSBC GIF European Alpha Equity Fund forms part of HSBC Global Asset Management's Luxembourg-domiciled Global Investment Funds (GIF) range, which can be bought in around 35 countries.

"This launch appears timely as the market backdrop seems more conducive to our market neutral strategy than the liquidity fuelled environment that defined most of 2009," Charles Robinson, global head of alternatives distribution, at HSBC Global Asset Management says.