Blacksquare fund in May volatility struggle

Blacksquare’s rebranded Acumen Defensive fund struggled to navigate May’s volatility in the markets, with just two of its 12 holdings in positive territory.

The £13.2m fund, previously called IFSL Blacksquare Multi-Manager Absolute Return, was rebranded as the group launched three new funds in a restructure revealed by Investment Adviser in April.

The Defensive fund lost 1.4 per cent in May and in 2012 so far, as at the end of May, it had lost 0.8 per cent.

Christopher Peel, founder and chief executive at Blacksquare, who runs the fund, said the performance was stronger than global equity indices.

“Economic growth around the world is softening and given the high level of uncertainty equity markets, remains under downward pressure,” he said.

In May, the MSCI World index of global shares fell by 9 per cent while the FTSE All-Share index dropped by 7.3 per cent and the S&P 500 index dropped 6.3 per cent.

Mr Peel said the fund’s sub-managers “continued to struggle” with the high level of volatility but praised the performance of the Aspect Capital Diversified Trends fund, which he said benefited from the sell-off in riskier assets in May to finish the month 0.8 per cent up.

The GLG Emerging Markets Fixed Income & Currency fund, a long/short vehicle, also posted a small gain of 0.7 per cent from its exposure to interest rate movements.

However, Investec Enhanced Natural Resources lost 4.1 per cent and the CF Odey UK Absolute Return fund fell 3.2 per cent. The Henderson UK Absolute Return fund and the AC Risk Parity 12 fund lost approximately 2.2 per cent.

“The remainder of the managers limited losses to roughly 1.5 per cent or less and we continue to monitor risk levels and performance closely,” Mr Peel added.

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