Nomura announces the launch of the “Nomura Quantam SolCap® Europe Fund” . The fund is available to institutional investors in key European markets including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The investment objective of the fund is to offer clients long only exposure to the DJ EuroStoxx 50® Total Return index with reduced tail risk. Offered in euro format, the fund allows investors to gain exposure to European equities, capturing upside while reducing equity drawdowns through an innovative allocation programme. The fund is backed by a formal bank guarantee issued by Nomura Bank International (rated A- by S&P as of October 2015). [1]

The Nomura Quantam SolCap® Europe Fund addresses material concerns of high downside risks attached to equity investments, and facilitates a potential reduction of the equity capital charge at a maximum of 15 per cent under Solvency II (under standard formula) due to its formal bank guarantee (Commission Solvency II Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35). [2]

The fund is part of the Nomura Alternative Investment Management UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) funds range, which provides investors with a broad range of investment solutions. Nomura Alternative Investment Management is advised by Quantam S.A., a quantitative asset manager based in France and the United States. Quantam has over 11 years of experience and a strong track record in systematic asset management and hedging overlay strategies.

Jean-Philippe Royer, CEO of Nomura Alternative Investment Management said: “This new fund was established to provide risk controlled access to European equities with a formal bank guarantee for our institutional clients. It is a direct response to investors’ broad-based interest in equities upside potential but with a downside risk mitigation mechanism.”

Paul Fulcher, Nomura’s Head of Asset & Liability Management solutions, EMEA, said: “Equity exposure can be very capital intensive. The SolCap fund uses an advanced solution, which should enhance the capital efficiency of equities under the Solvency II framework“.

Max Dupont, CEO of Quantam, said: “Quantam is delighted to join forces with Nomura for the SolCap fund, which embeds our advanced quantitative mechanism designed to firmly cap the fund’s local drawdowns using a rigorous scientific approach.“