Vontobel Fund II - Active Beta

Why invest?

• We are active investors. Our quantitative investment processes provide the optimal allocation without behavioral bias.
• We are a “white-box” investor. Clients receive transparent, cost-efficient implementation.
• Delivered excellent returns since 2002 across cycles.

Our investment process

Vontobel Fund II – Active Beta invests in global equities and government bonds with a focus on tactical asset management. The structure of the portfolio is optimally adapted to the risks and opportunities offered by prevailing market conditions (economic cycles) through long-term tactical management of the equity ratio and bond maturities.

The assessments of the fundamental economic risk environment on which tactical allocation management is based, and the potential returns derived from them, are grounded in the models developed by Quantitative Investments. The decisions made by these models are unemotional and comprehensible, and attention to risk is systematically maintained at all times. Usually, the equity ratio ranges between 0 and 60% and the duration of global government bonds between 0 and 10 years. The equity market weighting is more or less equally divided among North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The bond markets are weighted based on model signals. Liquid, exchange-traded derivatives can be used to efficiently implement the investment strategy and for hedging purposes.

Investment opportunity

Investing in a global universe of risk premia is the most sustainable source of return, as proven by financial market research. Since risk premia vary over time, dynamic management adds value. In essence, equities and bond risk premia are the most relevant risk premia. With this fund, you can participate in them in a straightforward fashion.

Our strategy is used as a base investment in multi asset portfolios. Research has shown that adding such systematic, model-based multi-asset approaches brings a diversifying benefit alongside star-manager, discretionary asset management: investor portfolios overall exhibit stabler risk-return profiles.

Investment philosophy

Academic research has proven that economically justified risk premia offer sustainable sources of investment return. Since risk premia vary over time, active investment adds value. Research upholds the fund’s quantitative models and systematic approach, and spurs continual innovation. Model-based allocation and risk management, precisely implemented, ensure optimal exposure and unbiased portfolio adjustments. The character of the models enables investment transparency for investors. Using liquid instruments enables efficient and cost-effective implementation.

Investment team

• Heritage over 20 years: Quantitative Investments’ proprietary, quantitative models for asset allocation and risk management grew out of research at the University of St. Gallen in the late 1990s and have worked well through all economic cycles.
• Commitment to innovation: Our ‘Research & Development’ team applies strong research backgrounds and continues innovating, dedicated to developing new models and maintaining and adjusting existing ones. The team follows a research strategy, monitors academic research, and reviews feedback from portfolio managers and clients.
• Systematic, coherent processes: based on the model design, our Computation team checks data quality, calculates portfolios daily and supplies allocation data to portfolio managers as well as for reporting and subsequent analysis. This team also tests and verifies any model adjustments before introducing them into the investment process, with clients notified of material changes. Our Portfolio Management team monitors and implements calculated portfolios daily, transforming allocation adjustments into investments using exchange-traded financial instruments.