Fund Management
Natixis Unveils "Concentrated" Equity Fund
Boston, MA-headquartered Natixis Global Asset Management is launching the Vaughan Nelson Select Fund, a “concentrated equity fund” from its affiliate Vaughan Nelson Investment Management.
The fund invests in what it believes are undervalued companies across market capitalization categories and is designed for long-term equity investors, the firm said.
Scott Weber is lead portfolio manager of the fund, along with co-managers Chris Wallis and Dennis Alff. Weber and Wallis also co-manage the Vaughan Nelson Small Cap Value Fund, and Alff is lead manager for the Vaughan Nelson Value Opportunity Fund.
"In an investing landscape increasingly dominated by index funds and exchange-traded funds, we believe there is demand for an actively-managed fund with high active share, as measured by the percentage of a portfolio not held by its relevant benchmark index," said Chris Wallis, president and chief executive of Vaughan Nelson.
While Natixis describes the fund’s investment process as an “extension” of the process used for its two other funds, the select fund takes a “more concentrated approach,” holding between 20 and 40 stocks, it said. Investment ideas are generated by the firm's equity research analyst team using a “rigorous bottom-up fundamental research process,” informed by macro economic and sophisticated risk analysis.
In April, the firm unveiled a platform designed to help individual investors and financial advisors address portfolio risk arising from market volatility.
The Durable Portfolio Construction platform recognizes a “renewed emphasis” on asset protection among investors. Soon after, the firm launched an international hedged equity fund from Gateway Investment Advisers, designed to provide a “conservative, risk-managed” allocation to global equities.
Houston, TX-headquartered Vaughan has some $8.2 billion in assets under management for institutional and high net worth clients, as at 31 March.
Natixis is a subsidiary of France's BPCE and also has headquarters in Paris, with $748 billion in AuM, as at 31 March.
