Gartmore's European Absolute Return Fund, a Ucits III limited issue vehicle with capacity set at 200 million shares, has raised GBP30m during its first two weeks of trading.Gartmore's European Absolute Return Fund, a Ucits III limited issue vehicle with capacity set at 200 million shares, has raised GBP30m during its first two weeks of trading.

The fund is the second in a series of absolute return offerings by Gartmore, which seeks to achieve positive absolute returns over the long-term, regardless of market conditions, by taking long and short positions in equities and derivatives.

The portfolio is managed by Roger Guy and Guillaume Rambourg (pictured) using a similar strategy to AlphaGen Capella, a European long/short equity fund.

'We are delighted with the support to date and the pipeline for further flows is very encouraging,' says Richard Pursglove, head of UK retail business at Gartmore.

'Over the last decade we have transformed our business into a specialist provider of long-only and alternative products. This latest development is an important strategic addition to our retail fund range, and has been driven by substantial client interest from discretionary asset managers, wealth managers and IFAs seeking positive returns with a low correlation to equity markets.'