In its latest UCITS Barometer survey, Malta-based ML Capital has found that merger arbitrage is the strategy most favoured by alternative UCITS investors, with 79 per cent planning to increaPARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

In its latest UCITS Barometer survey, Malta-based ML Capital has found that merger arbitrage is the strategy most favoured by alternative UCITS investors, with 79 per cent planning to increase or maintain their exposure over the next quarter. Each quarter, ML Capital tries to ask the same group of investors, who collectively manage EUR50billion (EUR10billion of which is in alternative UCITS), what their allocation plans are in order to get an accurate insight into developing trends. The survey found that 49 per cent of investors are looking to increase their allocation into event-driven strategies (of which merger arbitrage is but one example), whilst 33 per cent of investors plan on increasing allocations into market neutral strategies.

Even though the demand for equity strategies has fallen, US l/s equities still remain attractive with 40 per cent of investors looking to increase their exposure levels. Japan, rather surprisingly, is low in the priority list, with only 7 per cent of investors looking to increase allocations into the country. ML Capital Co-founder and Chairman, John Lowry (pictured), believes this latest survey shows a widening out of interest across several strategies, adding that more technical funds like merger arbitrage and market neutral are “now taking prominence”. Lowry thinks this “may be a sign that the alternative UCITS space is now beginning to mature”.