June Fund of the Month - GARS

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Few funds have stood up as well to the economic crisis as the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund.  Since September 2008 when it was launched it has returned 21.07% compared to an average return 6.03 % for the average Cautiously Managed Fund Sector and 1.86% for the International Equity Fund Sector.   
 

Reduced Risk

Originally designed for the Standard Life Staff Pension Fund, It has gained traction with many large pension schemes such as Volkswagen and is becoming more popular with many smaller retail investors as they begin to see the benefits of a fund which reduces risk, but can still produce a return significantly above cash deposits.
 
The traditional managed generally only increases in value when real asset values such as equities and property rise, because the majority of their holdings are in these assets.  The converse of this is also true so when equity and property markets fall, managed funds tend to do so also.
 

Effective Return Strategy

The GARS fund employs a number of different strategies in order to produce a return such as

• Equity Trading.
• Foreign Exchange Deals.
• Government and Corporate Debt Trading.
• Derivative Trading.

The fund offers a well diversified option for investors who are seeking somewhere different to invest.  It will not produce the same returns as managed or equity based funds in “normal” economic periods of growth but aims to protect the investor during periods of economic uncertainty.
 

How much risk is involved?

On a risk scale of 1-7 the GARS fund is ranked as 3. It’s not a capital guaranteed fund and is not suitable for investors who wish to protect all of their capital.  Values can fall as well as rise.
The Fund is available for both pension and non pension investments on the Standard Life platform.
 

Find out more

For further details on the GARS fund, download the brochure and factsheet or contact us at 1890 299 299.