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Occam Asset Management is moving into the UK retail market with the launch of a pair of Ucits III funds for managers Phil Cliff and Mark Williams.

The new products will be focused on Asia and Europe, with Mr Williams managing the Asian fund and Mr Cliff the European. The funds will be domiciled in Ireland, with UK distributor status, and share classes will be available in sterling, euro and dollar.

The group said it hopes to have the funds up and running by September.

David Sheppard, chief executive at Occam, said: "We are launching the Ucits III compliant funds as, at the moment, we see a lot of opportunities in the market and think things have become oversold. Toward the end of the year, a rally may be coming, so we want to be in a good position to take advantage of this."

Occam launched last September and recruited a number of senior managers from within the industry, such as Mr Cliff from Threadneedle, Mr Williams from F&C and John Greenhill from Lazard.

Last December, Occam launched three long/short equity hedge funds investing in Asia, Europe and Japan, and even then, chairman Jonathan Hughes-Morgan said it had always been the company's intention to push into the retail market.

"At the moment, the majority of our focus is on our existing hedge funds, but we are developing a strategy to launch a number of retail funds," he said. "They will most likely not be ready for launch next year."

Occam has been building up its offshore business in recent months, and Mr Sheppard said the new launches would build up its onshore business, where the company has seen a lot of demand. Mr Williams and Mr Cliff both ran long-only funds before joining Occam and so will have no problem falling back into their old roles, he added.

Both managers will take a combined bottom-up, top-down approach with a focus on strong stock selection. The portfolios will be high-conviction, consisting of between 25-40 holdings.

Occam is hoping to raise about $100m (£50m) with the new products. Although final details have yet to be confirmed, it is understood the annual charge will be 1.75 per cent, while the minimum investment is expected to be $20,000. There is currently no initial fee.

According to Mr Sheppard, Occam has no immediate plans to launch a long-only Japanese fund for Mr Greenhill, as the timing is not quite right. But it will be there, he said, "to pull off the shelf if needs be".