Morley has launched the UK Equity Long/Short hedge fund, which aims to deliver absolute returns to investors with significantly lower volatility than the FTSE All Share Index, to be manage

Morley has launched the UK Equity Long/Short hedge fund, which aims to deliver absolute returns to investors with significantly lower volatility than the FTSE All Share Index, to be managed by recently recruited high alpha fund managers Ian Lancaster and James Follows.

Two of seven recent recruits to Morley's equities team, Lancaster and Follows were hired to continue managing their fund, which was recently re-branded as the Norwich UK Income Opportunities Fund, and to develop a long/short hedge fund, capitalising on their previous success in both these product areas.

Since its launch In February 2002, the Norwich UK Income Opportunities Fund has achieved first quartile ratings in the IMA UK Equity Income sector, been rated first out of 130 funds in the sector, and achieved 123.22 per cent growth compared with a sector average of 61.11 per cent.

Morley head of equities Niall Paul says: 'We are increasingly looking at growing our absolute return product offering. The Morley UK Equity Long/Short Fund is part of this, and with Ian and James in place, I am convinced we will capitalise on the skills of a strong team with a proven track record and robust process to achieve this.'

Says Lancaster: 'The Morley UK Equities Long/Short hedge fund is a natural extension of the long-only space. The aim of the fund is to deliver an absolute return to investors with significantly lower volatility than the FTSE All Share Index by taking long and short positions in UK listed equities. The focus will be on small and mid-cap stocks, and we will also invest selectively in the large cap sector.'

Lancaster and Follows run a rigorous and structured investment process combining fundamental research with a proprietary quantitative analysis and valuation model.