LONDON, April 19, 2017 – BMO Global Asset Management today launches the BMO US Real Estate Equity Long/Short (US REELS) Fund, a market neutral UCITs fund focused on US real estate securities.
The BMO US REELS Fund aims to deliver positive returns to investors in the form of capital growth in all market conditions over a three year period, targeting mid-single digit annualised returns.
The fund will be managed by BMO Global Asset Management’s award winning[1] Property Equities team. The portfolio construction and implementation process is a collegiate approach whilst strategic decisions on risk allocation are carried out by Alban Lhonneur and Daniel Winterbottom, with oversight from Marcus Phayre-Mudge, Head of Property Equities. The team has a strong track record in long/short strategies, including the European focused F&C Real Estate Equity Long/Short (REELS) Fund, launched in 2012. Since launch, the REELS Fund has returned 15.3%[2].
Alban Lhonneur, Fund Manager on BMO Global Asset Management’s Property Equities team, said:
“Our new BMO US REELS Fund will utilise insights gained through fundamental company analysis and apply them within a market neutral format and deployed through our robust and proven dynamic model. As we have successfully done in other funds, our aim is to harness differentials between individual companies. In this fund, we do so through pair trades within property sub-sectors, for example offices, malls and industrials, and by strictly adhering to a sub-sector neutral stance.”
Marcus Phayre-Mudge, Head of BMO Global Asset Management’s Property Equities team, commented:
“Real estate securities provide us with a broad, deep and comparable opportunity set within which to identify sources of return. The successful application of these insights within a long/short framework led to strong client demand, inflows and subsequently, the soft-closure of our European focused F&C Real Estate Equity Long/Short Fund. Our new BMO US REELS Fund extends our range and brings new capacity to our clients.”
Rob Thorpe, head of UK intermediary at BMO Global Asset Management, added:
“Many of our clients are seeking options with the potential for delivering consistent positive returns with low volatility. Importantly, when building portfolios they are looking for components that display a low level of correlation with other asset types. Back-testing shows that our new US REELS Fund is capable of delivering just these characteristics.”
The Fund, domiciled in Ireland, will be available to institutional and advised retail investors. BMO US REELS is registered for sale in the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
[1] Winner of Money Observer Best Property Shares Fund award 2016
[2] F&C Real Estate Equity Long/Short Fund launched December 2012