Clerk Fenton, Head of the new RWC Diversified Return Team, explains how his team aims to deliver returns throughout the economic cycle
When Clark Fenton launched Agilis Investment Management LLP in 2017, he wanted to offer the market something he believed it was lacking: a liquid, low-cost, transparent way for investors to gain true diversification from traditional equity and bond holdings.
His vision was a product that finally provided those customers that had been continuously let down by alternatives what he felt they needed - a fund that was sophisticated, yet simple enough that investors could easily understand how it fits in their portfolios.
"We saw an area of the market that we thought was underserved, one where investors were seeking more diversification from portfolios but had been let down by alternatives because of high costs, lack of transparency or illiquidity," he said. "We wanted to create a product that fulfilled these objectives."
Together with partners Charles Crowson, who boasts derivatives experience, and Praveen Kanakamedala, who has strong risk management knowledge, Fenton brought the Protea fund - Agilis UCITS to market with a flat management fee, no performance fee and daily liquidity in a UCITS wrapper.
The multi-strategy portfolio invests across equity, interest rates, credit, commodities, FX and volatility strategies to generate alternative return streams, and can go long or short using derivatives, which allows it the flexibility to adapt to different market conditions.
After two years of running their strategy under the Agilis brand, the three-strong team has now joined RWC Partners to form its Diversified Return Team, with the fund merged into the RWC Diversified Return Fund.
"We think this offers us the best of both worlds in terms of providing an opportunity to build the business with the backing of a great partner, strong sales and marketing," said Fenton. "As a standalone business, these were the things we were lacking, and we wanted to bridge that gap."
No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risks in any market environment
