Hedge fund giant Man Investments is to launch its popular AHL managed futures trading strategy into the retail market.

The fund, which is planned for launch on 1 October, will be domiciled in the UK and employ Ucits III powers. It will deal on a weekly basis, giving it the edge on a number of rival strategies, which tend to only offer monthly dealing. 

AHL strategies have proved successful over the years. The firm’s flagship AHL Alpha hedge fund has returned 17.9% a year since 1995, when hedged back into sterling, according to the firm.

The Ucits fund will trade futures and derivatives in a range of financial and commodity markets. The fund will be based on AHL’s investment process, which is centred on the belief that markets are frequently inefficient and that this can be predicted through statistical analysis.

In practice, AHL’s quantitative models trade 24 hours a day across more than 100 markets and 200 instruments. Using a technical approach and different investment time frames, the fund will aim to spot and capitalise on upward or downward price trends across a range of indices.

The strategy is designed to have a low correlation with markets. The new fund will have unlimited capacity on the basis that managed futures trading is one of the most liquid strategies around.

AHL, which is a subsidiary of Man, is run by fund manager and chief executive Tim Wong. It has been specialising in systematic trading funds since 1987 and now runs over $20 billion ($12.6 billion) across a range of hedge fund strategies.

Man’s decision to bring the fund to the retail market coincides with a number of Ucits retail launches by successful hedge fund managers with similar strategies. 

BlueCrest opened up its BlueTrend strategy to the retail market earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Winton Capital, the other major player in the field of managed futures trading, is considering the launch of a Ucits version of its successful Winton Futures Fund.