SLI teams partners with John Hancock to offer GARS in US

Standard Life Investments is partnering with John Hancock Mutual Funds to offer its Global Absolute Return Strategies fund  to US retail investors.

The fund, which will be named the John Hancock Global Absolute Return Strategies fund, will be offered as a stand-alone part of the John Hancock range of retail funds. It will also be part of the firm’s Alternative Asset Allocation fund, as well as several of the firm's lifestyle funds.

As part of the partnership, SLI will provide portfolio management services as sub-adviser.

Keith Skeoch (pictured) chief executive officer of SLI said: ‘This agreement not only widens our distribution footprint in the US institutional and wholesale market but allows us to work with a leading distributor to help deliver potential for our global clients.’

The GARS fund, launched in 2008, aims to offer equity-like returns but with lower volatility, and invests in a broad range of investments.

The portfolio contains up to around 30 different ideas that the team, headed by Euan Munro, believes will deliver over a three year period.

The fund has returned 30.5% over three years, compared with the Absolute Return sector average figure of 13.2%.