Natixis and AlphaSimplex unveil multistrategy absolute return fund

Natixis Global Associates, in conjunction with the AlphaSimplex Group LLC, has launched a multistrategy absolute return fund, Natixis announced today. The Natixis ASG Diversifying Strategies Fund (DSFAX) is designed to target an average return of the London Interbank Offered Rate plus 5% over a three to five-year period, Libor is the interest rate that banks charge each other for loans. Andrew Lo, chief investment strategist and founder of the AlphaSimplex Group, will manage the fund. The fund aims to provide a low-to-negative correlation with major equity indexes by selling Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index futures when necessary. “The largest source of risk in many investors’ portfolio is equity market risk,” Mr. Lo said in a statement “We designed this fund to answer a broad-based need for portfolio diversification with low to negative long-run correlation to the major equity markets within a liquid and transparent mutual fund vehicle,” he said. There is a $2,500 minimum for retail shares. The new fund is the second mutual fund managed by Cambridge, Mass.-based AlphaSimplex Group, which specializes in alternative, derivatives and risk management strategies. Natixis Global Asset Management, the distribution arm of Natixis Global Associates, headquartered in Boston and Paris, had $667.5 billion in assets under management as of June 30.