London-based boutique launches financials credit fund

London-based financials specialist Algebris Investment has launched a financial credit fund in order to capitalise on opportunities created by changes to regulation in the sector.

The Dublin-domiciled fund, which will be overseen by company co-founder Davide Serra, is also intended to complement its existing Alternative Ucits long/short equity fund, the MS Algebris Global Financial fund.

In the new offering Serra will operate with a global mandate investing in debt, convertible bonds and hybrid instruments with fixed or variable coupons. These may be either investment grade or non-investment grade bonds.

Commenting on the launch, Serra said: ‘We have been managing credit strategies since 2009 and have significantly outperformed the benchmarks. We believe there are very interesting opportunities in this space as the regulation changes brought on by Basel III are rolled out.’

Serra became sole manager on the MS Algebris Global Financial fund in March 2012 following the departure of co-manager Eric Halet. Halet, who co-founded Algebris, announced he was taking a step back from active management.

The MS Algebris Global Financial fund was launched as a joint venture with Morgan Stanley in January 2011. It has returned 5.23% over the last 12 months, this compares to its Citywire benchmark, the MSCI World TR USD, which rose 22.35% over the same period.