iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund

Innovative exposure to the hedge funds universe.

iM Global Partner's new iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund seeks to generate long-term capital growth by replicating the pre-fee performance of a representative basket of leading managed futures hedge funds.

Hedge Fund Replication at a Lower Cost

Managed futures hedge funds (also known as CTAs) have a low or zero correlation to other major asset classes, which means they can offer attractive diversification benefits during periods of market stress. Using quantitative models, these funds seek to identify the key trends and trades in financial markets. However, many hedge funds take a large portion of the returns in the form of high management and performance fees. The new iMGP DBi Managed Futures fund, managed by our Partner, DBi, provides exposure to this style of investing by replicating the major positions of a basket of leading CTAs through futures contracts in equities, bonds, commodities and currencies, but with lower fees.

  1. Seeks to replicate the pre-fee returns of a basket of leading CTAs.
  2. Takes active positions in 10-15 highly liquid futures contracts.
  3. Offers lower long-term correlations to the major asset classes.
  4. Daily liquidity and lower fees than traditional hedge funds (no performance fees).

Investment Process

The fund uses the same time-tested investment strategy as DBMF, a US-listed ETF managed by DBi, offering investors access to the diversification benefits of managed futures in a UCITS structure.

DBi's investment management team selects a representative basket of leading managed futures hedge funds with a view to replicating their performance.

The team then uses a proprietary quantitative model to identify the main return drivers and therefore determine the major positions of these strategies.

Positions are replicated through 10-15 highly liquid futures contracts across equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities. The portfolio is adjusted as needed to reflect position changes over time.

Strategy Performance vs Comparators

DBi's managed futures strategy has demonstrated its ability to meet its objectives since inception and during periods of market stress in equity and bond markets.

Past performance does not predict future returns

Performance since inception of the DBi Managed Futures Strategy
Annualised Performance 2023 YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years Since Inception
(July 2016)
DBi Managed Futures Strategy -5.9% -6.2% 9.8% 7.6% 5.1%
SG CTA Index -2.6% -2.7% 9.5% 6.7% 2.6%
MSCI World Index 18.0% 13.0% 7.0% 10.0% 9.9%
Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index 3.8% 2.6% 3.0% 1.0% 0.8%

Source: iM Global Partner, DBi, eVestment. As of 30 November 2023. Data refers to cumulative past performance of the strategy, rebased to 100. Prior to 2019 the performance of the strategy shown is a representative account. Performance of the strategy is net based on fees of 85 bps. This data is being shown for illustrative purposes only. The index is not representative of the entire population of CTAs or hedge funds. The index's performance may not be indicative of any individual CTAs or hedge funds.

Key Highlights

The fund seeks to mitigate three key risks associated with hedge fund investing.

Market Structure

Market Structure

Illiquidity, trade crowding, counterparty

Concentration

Concentration

Single fund, industry, geography

Human Biases

Human Biases

Selection bias, etc.

Fund Managers

The fund is co-managed by Andrew Beer and Mathias Mamou-Mani at New York-based DBi. They are supported by scientific advisor Matt Grayson, who has 35+ years of experience in mathematics, research and financial modeling.

Andrew Beer

Andrew Beer

Managing member and co-portfolio manager

Andrew has nearly 30 years of experience in the hedge fund sector. He co-founded Pinnacle Asset Management in 2003 and was a founder of Apex Capital Management, a hedge fund focused on Greater China.

Mathias Mamou-Mani

Mathias Mamou-Mani

Managing member and co-portfolio manager

Mathias has 15 years of experience at DBi and its predecessor, overseeing quantitative research, including DBi’s proprietary factor and liquid solution models, risk systems and trade implementation. From 2001 to 2006 he worked as a consultant for the French Ministry of Defence, France Telecom and Lafarge.

DBi

DBi is the sub-advisor to the iMGP DBi Managed Futures fund. It specializes in building portfolios that aim to outperform leading hedge funds by identifying, and investing in, the key drivers of pre-fee performance.

Investment strategies

DBi focuses on replicating portfolios of leading hedge funds across three categories: multi-strategy, equity hedge and managed futures. It currently manages four UCITS funds, two US ETFs and other vehicles.

Equity Hedge

Leverages the talent and resources of some of the world’s most sophisticated equity long/short hedge funds to deliver equity-like returns with lower risk over time.

Managed Futures

A proven diversifier with low correlation to equities to target capital protection during periods of market stress.

Multi-Strategy

A diversified portfolio that seeks to match or outperform a diversified portfolio of leading hedge funds across event-driven, relative value and equity long/short strategies.

iMGP Stable Return FundUCITS

The iMGP Stable Return fund seeks absolute returns with a volatility close to 5% over a full market cycle replicating leading Managed Futures and Equity hedge funds. With a 65% allocation to Equity Hedge and 35% to Managed Futures, it is an all-weather strategy offering potential protection during periods of market stress.

SEI Liquid Alternative FundUCITS

The SEI Liquid Alternative fund is an award-winning diversified hedge fund solution that targets absolute returns by replicating the core trades of 70 leading hedge funds. Structured as a UCITS fund, it offers daily liquidity, no minimum investment and competitive fees.

iM Global Partner

We are a global asset management network built on trust, respect and integrity, scouring the globe for the most talented investment companies and individuals. Our clients include institutional investors, financial intermediaries and wealth advisory platforms. Founded in 2013, we have US$35 billion in assets under management (as of 31 December 2022) and operate in 11 global locations.

What We Do

We select proven investment managers — our Partners — and through a non-controlling stake, they benefit from a strong financial and operational relationship with us, and gain access to our global resources and distribution capabilities.

Research & Investment

We have strong research, due diligence capabilities and investment expertise that enable us to acquire long-term minority ownership in some of the best independent traditional and alternative active managers.

Business Development

We build long-lasting relationships with our clients and pride ourselves on our high standards of excellence in execution and service, ensuring that we offer them a wide range of robust investment solutions.

Asset Management

We construct, manage and oversee a well-curated and diversified range of active products that are delegated to our selected best-in-class investment teams.

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