Downing

Fund: MGTS Downing Defensive Opportunities Fund

Why is the Fund a Fund to Watch?: 

• A defensive portfolio diversifier with strong risk-adjusted returns: the Fund aims to deliver resilient, alternative sources of return with low corelation to traditional equity and bond benchmarks. The Fund invests in assets with compounding growth and hedging characteristics, across a range of strategies. Backed by a team with extensive cross-asset experience – over 125 combined years, including 85 years of derivatives and systematic investing.

• An essential building block enhancing portfolio risk-return metrics: we use a risk-managed approach across structural, tactical and short-term opportunities and hedges, utilising a mix of conventional and alternative assets. Delivering strong risk-adjusted standalone returns, and enhancing multi-asset portfolio metrics: alpha, beta, correlation and convexity.

• Low correlation to traditional benchmarks and high liquidity by design: the portfolio is defensive, highly liquid with low volatility and low correlation to traditional benchmarks. Powered by a proprietary quantitative system overlayed with outstanding qualitative selection. We believe the Fund is a key building block for multi-asset investors seeking genuine diversification of returns, liquidity, and stability in modern, complex markets. We believe a core allocation adds resilience and improves risk-metrics, whilst not sacrificing real-returns or liquidity.

Speaker:

Paul Adams – Head of Portfolio Management – Liquid Alternatives

Paul is Head of Portfolio Managements in the Liquid Alternatives team. Paul built a series of successful cash equities and equity derivatives businesses over his 20+ year career in investment banking at Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura, Lehman Brothers and WestLB Panmure. Most recently, at Royal Bank of Canada, Paul was the European Head of Cash Equity and Flow Derivative Sales (part of the Global Equities division). Paul has a broad set of capital markets expertise and has directly covered a mix of institutional clients, corporates, wealth managers, pensions/insurers, and hedge funds. Paul began his career as a Chemical Engineer and then worked for 5 years at Chubb Insurance. He has a Beng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from Nottingham University and is also a qualified Certified Chartered Accountant.

Presentation Synopsis:

Deep Impact: Enhancing risk-adjusted returns and resilience in uncertain modern markets

Secular changes to modern market dynamics are driving long term challenges to both performance and risks. Investor portfolios are challenged by navigating complex, uncertain markets: geo-politics, inflation, concentrated equity markets, and growing, regional imbalances. These trends are having a deep persistent impact. Investment managers need to rebalance their core portfolio allocations to secure resilient returns and mitigate rising market risks. In this session, Downing’s Liquid Alternatives team will explain how the Defensive Opportunities Fund acts as a genuine portfolio diversifier, delivering real returns with low volatility, and low correlation to traditional equity and bond benchmarks, without sacrificing liquidity.

Sales Attendees:

Richard Pagliuca, Business Development Director

Richard Pagliuca Business Development Director Bio: Richard joined Downing in May 2023 as a Business Development Director responsible for managing relationships with London based wealth managers and discretionary fund managers. He has over 10 years of experience within financial services having started his career at EY, where he chartered as an accountant, before joining Schroders, initially as an equities product specialist and then as the distribution strategist to the global head of distribution.

Matt Evans, Business Development Director.

Matt Evans Business Development Director Bio: Matt joined Downing in March 2023 as Business Development Director where he is responsible for managing relationships with wealth managers, fund selectors and other financial intermediaries in helping them to achieve their investment goals. He has over 15 years’ experience in financial services and has previously worked for Janus Henderson Investors and Jupiter Asset Management. In his previous role he was responsible for developing client relationships in the South West of England and securing business into a range of single strategy funds and multi-asset investment vehicles. As well as this, he was responsible for managing a team of Business Development managers, responsible for supporting financial intermediaries throughout the UK.