Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) has announced the launch next month of the Old Mutual Global Statistical Arbitrage Fund, a specialist fund that will be run by the same team that has managed

Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) has announced the launch next month of the Old Mutual Global Statistical Arbitrage Fund, a specialist fund that will be run by the same team that has managed the Old Mutual European Statistical Arbitrage Fund since May 2006.

The Global Statistical Arbitrage Fund, which will be launched on 1 June 2007 with minimum initial capital of USD25m, will be managed using systematic techniques that exploit short term pricing anomalies.

It will trade in the most liquid stocks globally, using a proprietary quantitative model to compare stocks within the same sector across all regions in order to exploit pricing inefficiencies. The fund will typically contain around 850 stocks selected from the S&P Global 1200 Index covering developed global markets.

Says OMAM chief investment officer Eoin Murray: 'The launch of the Global Statistical Arbitrage Fund adds further diversification to our hedge fund range and complements our existing offering within this area of the market.

'The fund will be managed by Paul Simpson and John Dow, both of whom have extensive expertise and experience of arbitrage strategies, and I have every confidence they will be able to replicate the success they have enjoyed with the European strategy.'

The new fund, which will be domiciled in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, will be denominated in US dollars, with a minimum initial investment of USD100,000. The fund will carry an annual management fee of 1.5 per cent and a performance fee of 20 percent, and its prime broker will be Merrill Lynch.

OMAM acts as investment manager to a range of hedge funds, multi-asset funds, structured products, unit trusts, open-ended investment companies and offshore funds, and also manages equity, bond and currency investments for Old Mutual Fund Managers, the group's UK fund management arm.

OMAM's four areas of investment expertise comprise quantitative strategies, discretionary equities, multi strategy products and fixed interest. The firm says it has a non-prescriptive approach to its managers, recruiting fund managers who are entrepreneurial and employ their own proven investment methodology rather than adhering to a house style.