US-based hedge fund management firm DE Shaw is preparing to launch a new fund that will be more liquid and transparent than its widely followed flagship macro-oriented fund, called the DE Shaw Heliant Fund, the Financial Times reported.

The new fund is expected to launch in the first three months of 2010, the newspaper said.

The New York-based company believes there are strong opportunities in global markets because macroeconomic factors continue to drive an unusual amount of price action.

Heliant will utilise many of the macro elements employed by DE Shaw Oculus, its largest multi-strategy fund. Since its inception in 2004, Oculus has delivered 19.3 per cent annualised gains, net of fees, and is up more than 10 per cent this year, the report said. Last year, however, the fund suffered client exits.