Hargreaves Lansdown is to expand its fund range with the launch of a global equity fund.
The FTSE 100 listed platform provider already has a range of multi-manager funds and UK equity funds and is to task Steve Clayton, who runs Hargreaves' two UK equity funds, to manage the new global fund.
The fund will launch on May 3 and will be a constituent of the IA Global index. It will hold between 30 and 40 shares, and will look across the market capitalisation spectrum.
The ongoing charge will be 0.6 per cent.
Mr Clayton said: "Investing globally opens up new opportunities to find truly exceptional companies from a much bigger pool of choice.
"We try to identify great businesses, wherever they are in the world, with strong balance sheets, and own them for the long term.
"We look for businesses that are in charge of their own destiny, which will grow through thick and thin, regardless of issues like Brexit.
"By taking a wary attitude to debt, we hope to shield investors from the worst of any future downturns, while capitalising on the upswing."
Tom Sparke, investment director at GDIM, a discretionary fund management business in Cambridge, said: "This new offering is intriguing and the concise, high conviction nature proposed is positive, hopefully allowing a high degree of active share.
"The level of transparency in the fund is an interesting and welcome addition to give investors insight into the reasoning behind the fund’s positions.
"We would note that while the OCF is priced at a good level, the platform fee and all transactional and incidental costs must be taken into account too and this may elevate the total cost above that of some existing global equity funds."
Fundsmith, which is the largest fund in the IA Global sector, has a fee of 1.5 per cent annually.
Hargreaves' platform charge is 0.45 per cent.
david.thorpe@ft.com
