REPORTS: Open Funds – Press Release Feb. 2017
ABR and OpenFunds announce the successful seeding of the first of a series of UCITS V fund managed by ABR.
OpenFunds Investment Services Ltd. (‘OpenFunds’), the leading independent, partner-owned, Swiss fund placement agent, is pleased to have served as the exclusive placement agent for the launch of the first UCITS V fund of ABR Dynamic Funds (‘ABR’), a US quantitative asset manager.
Based in New York, ABR is building upon its indexing and liquid alternative asset management business by launching its first Irish-domiciled UCITS V fund. The fund, which seeks U.S. equities participation in a bull market and significant, positive absolute returns in a crisis, is being distributed by OpenFunds, which is also acting as Swiss legal representative for the fund. The fully-systematic fund will seek returns similar to ABR’s first index, the ABR Dynamic Blend Equity and Volatility Index (ABRVXX). ABR’s index is the first under the “Powered by Wilshire” custom index suite, launched by Wilshire Associates in 2015. Wilshire, which provides services to clients with assets totalling over $7 trillion, independently calculates and publishes the index values for ABR.
The fund received investments from banks, family offices and independent asset managers and starts trading today.
ABR’s founder and CEO, Taylor Lukof, plans to grow Assets Under Management (AUM) in an expanding segment of the European markets in the UCITS fund wrapper. “We see tremendous growth in index-tracking UCITS in Europe. What was less than 2% of AUM in European UCITS in 2013 became over 10% by 2015. European assets in UCITS continue to shift from traditional actively-managed funds to passively-managed funds, and ABR is pleased to be a part of this changing dynamic.”
OpenFunds’ CEO, Siro Zanovello, thinks that the simple structure of a UCITS V fund could be key for clients looking for a liquid alternative fund that performs well in a crisis. “Most of the products we distribute at OpenFunds are a little bit different than what an investor would typically see. We are a pioneer in what today people call private debt, but given the limited allocation to this space, we were always on the look-out for truly scalable liquid alternative solutions. With ABR’s suite of funds, we believe we are providing what clients have been asking for the last few years.” Zanovello credits his team’s rich history of marketing “first-time” products for the successful launch of ABR’s fund. “We have a track record in helping first-time funds raise assets and therefore start trading. Our goal with ABR is to have the first billion-dollar fund in the category of liquid alternative that OpenFunds represents. We are excited for the UCITS fund family that ABR plans to offer to our clients in the future.”
For additional information:
Taylor Lukof, CEO ABR Dynamic Funds, tlukof@abrmanagement.com, Telephone: +1 212 918 4663 or Siro Zanovello, CEO OpenFunds Investment Services AG, szanovello@open-funds.ch, Telephone: +41 44 500 31 08
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About ABR Dynamic Funds
ABR Management LLC, the parent company of ABR Dynamic Funds, was founded in 2010 by Taylor Lukof as a research-focused trading group managing internal proprietary capital. In March 2015, ABR Dynamic Funds, LLC was formed, as a subsidiary of ABR Management, to license intellectual property from the parent company in order to create indices and liquid alternative solutions for clients. Today, ABR Dynamic Funds is an innovative, global investment management and R&D firm with a focus on liquid alternative index creation and product development. The firm develops systematic strategies across all asset classes for the creation of proprietary indexes with its partners. These indexes are licensed by ABR to deliver investable solutions to clients. Please visit http://abrfunds.com/home/ for more information.
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About OpenFunds
OpenFunds Investment Services Limited is an independent company established under Swiss law, licensed and supervised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (‘FINMA’) as legal representative and as distributor of foreign collective investment schemes for qualified investors. OpenFunds also supports Fund promoters of foreign collective investment schemes to become in line and operate within the Swiss regulatory framework regarding the distribution of foreign collective investment schemes to qualified investors only in Switzerland or from Switzerland. OpenFunds is the only Swiss legal representative distributing directly to principal investors. With a team of 8 senior sales professionals in Zurich, Geneva and Lugano, and an exclusive cooperation with a soon-to-be-established sister company at the DIFC in Dubai, OpenFunds is well-placed to reach out to some of the largest global investor communities.
Important notice and disclaimer: This document is highly confidential and is for information purposes only and is not an offer to purchase or solicitation for the purchase of securities and not a prospectus or offering memorandum. Investors must not purchase any securities referred to in this document except on the basis of information provided in appropriate offering documents to be provided separately. The securities described in this document will only be offered at a later date and upon terms to be determined at that time and as disclosed in appropriate offering documents in accordance with the law. This document, and the information contained herein, is not for viewing, release, distribution or publication into any jurisdiction where applicable laws prohibit its release, distribution or publication. The securities described in this document will not be offered, and may not be sold, in the United States or to US Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933). Any opinions expressed in this document may vary without prior notice and do not constitute investment advice. The author(s) and the firm(s) do not warrant as to the accuracy or completeness of any market prices, data and information contained herein which can be subject to change at any time without notice and therefore the author and the firm shall have no liability (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) for any direct, indirect, consequential or special losses or damages of any kind whatsoever arising from or in connection with the information contained herein or any reliance on any of the Content. Any comments or statements non-factual in nature constitute current opinions, which are subject to change. The domicile of the Fund is Guernsey. The Representative of the Fund in Switzerland is OpenFunds Investment Services AG, with its registered office at Selnaustrasse 5, CH-8001 Zurich, Tel +41 44 500 31 08, Fax +41 44 500 31 06, www.open-funds.ch. The Paying Agent in Switzerland is Società Bancaria Ticinese SA, Piazza Collegiata 3, 6501 Bellinzona, Tel. +41 91 821 51 21, Fax. + 41 91 825 66 18, www.bancaria.ch. The distribution of the Partnership Interests in the Fund (the “Interests”) in Switzerland must be made exclusively to Qualified Investors. The place of performance and jurisdiction for the Interests in the Fund distributed in Switzerland is at the registered office of the Representative. Publications to Swiss investors in respect of the Interests in the Fund are effected on the electronic platform www.fundinfo.com