Toronto-based Connor, Clark & Lunn Funds Inc. (CC&L Funds) has launched three alternative mutual funds (a.k.a. liquid alts), the company announced Thursday.
The three funds — CC&L Alternative Income Fund, CC&L Alternative Canadian Equity Fund and
CC&L Alternative Global Equity Fund — are available in A and F series. They are offered through IIROC-licensed investment dealers, are priced and offered daily, and are available through FundServ.
“The recent introduction of a new, more flexible Canadian mutual fund regulatory structure allows us to offer select alternative strategies in funds that are available to all Canadian investors. In these funds, our investment teams can apply a broader set of tools, which increases the probability of adding value to traditional Canadian equity, global equity and fixed income portfolios to deliver better investment outcomes in the decade to come” says Tim Elliott, president of CC&L Funds, in a statement.
“Against a backdrop of slowing global growth, low bond yields and record levels of global debt, return expectations for traditional, long-only stock and bond portfolios are anticipated to be lower over the next 10 years. Investors will need to evaluate accepting lower return expectations or embracing new types of investment solutions — such as liquid alternatives — as a way to maintain return objectives without a corresponding increase in risk,” says Elliott.
The portfolio manager for each of the three funds is CC&L Investment Management Ltd. The firm has managed these types of strategies, primarily for institutional investors, for the last 15 years, including through the 2008 financial crisis. It currently manages more than $5 billion of alternative investments.
CC&L Alternative Income Fund is a flexible, long-short absolute return fixed income strategy that seeks to deliver positive absolute returns over a market cycle by opportunistically investing in a diversified portfolio comprised primarily of fixed income securities.
“In our alternative income fund, we are aiming to provide a very different return profile than what is available in long-only bond funds, combined with a fee structure that is directly aligned with added-value,” Elliott says.
CC&L Alternative Canadian Equity Fund and CC&L Alternative Global Equity Fund combine added-value from a global equity market neutral strategy with long exposure to Canadian and global equities, respectively. The funds seek to deliver higher return targets while maintaining a similar risk profile to long-only Canadian equity and global equity portfolios.