The asset management arm of the Geneva-based Pictet Group has added to its total return fund range.

Pictet Asset Management has launched an equity market neutral fund investing in Asia.

The new UCITS IV compliant fund, PTR-Phoenix, will be managed out of Singapore by James Kim, who has more than 20 years' experience in investing in Asian equities, along with his colleagues Tai Panich and Jing Wang. The trio managed a similar strategy for three years prior to joining the asset manager.

The fund managers will use local insights and fundamental analysis to identify leading structural themes in Asia, such as the rise of Chinese tourists in Japan, which will then be expressed through a combination of long and short positions so as to neutralise market risk and generate alpha. 

“As Asian equity markets have expanded and liquidity has improved, the region now makes a market neutral long/short investment strategy a viable and attractive proposition,” Kim said.

With weekly liquidity and daily pricing, PTR-Phoenix is the sixth fund to be launched as part of Pictet Asset Management’s total return fund range, joining Kosmos (global long/short credit), equity long/short funds Corto Europe and Mandarin (Greater China), and market neutral funds Agora and Diversified Alpha.

It is currently available to investors in Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain and Germany.

As of the end of September, Pictet Asset Management managed £98 billion ($147 billion) in assets worldwide.