LV european ex-UK growth fund adds sterling hedged share class

06 Sep 2010

LV= Asset Management (LVAM), the fund management arm of insurance, investment and pensions group LV=, is enhancing its LV= European ex-UK Growth Fund with the addition of a Sterling hedged share class, in response to growing demand from institutional and discretionary clients.

The new Institutional Income GBP Hedged Share Class is a further designation of the Institutional Income Share Class launched last month. It allows clients to mitigate currency risk on their investments but also to express any strong currency views by providing for free switching between hedged and unhedged share classes without having to realise the investment or incur any capital gains tax liability.

Julian Thomas, Head of Product Development and Management, LVAM, commented: "LV= European ex-UK Growth Fund has achieved a remarkable track record of consistent performance for its clients over a number of years. In order to widen its appeal to investors, the Sterling hedged share class aims to reduce the underlying currency risk of the portfolio's assets by hedging currencies to which the portfolio has material exposure.

"We believe this gives LVAM a competitive advantage by offering a product that few others do, allowing a greater number of potential clients to access the Fund’s strong performance."

Matthew Wright, Head of Sales, LVAM, said: "We know that there is demand for this type of product from clients and indeed, we already have strong pipeline interest ahead of bringing it to market. This is further evidence that LVAM is prepared to extend the investment options of an impressively performing fund to meet client needs."

LV= European ex-UK Growth Fund was launched in 2003 and is managed jointly by Mark Page, Richard Falle and Laurent Millet. Last month it secured an OBSR 'A' rating and it carries an 'AA' rating from Standard & Poor’s. It is the only fund to have outperformed both the benchmark index and IMA Europe sector average in every year since 2004*.

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Notes to editors:
*Source: Lipper Hindsight bid to bid UK Net of Tax in Sterling, Retail Shares versus FTSE World Europe ex-UK Index and IMA Europe ex-UK.
- The minimum initial investment into LV= European ex-UK Growth Fund Institutional Income GBP Hedged Class is £500,000.
- The AMC is the same as the current Institutional share classes: 0.55%. The TER is estimated at launch to be 0.79%, 0.15% higher than the other Institutional share classes, reflecting the costs associated with providing the hedge. All charges are taken from income, rather than capital given the primary objective of the fund is capital growth.

About LV=
LV= is a registered trademark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (LVFS) and a trading style of the Liverpool Victoria group of companies.

LV= offer a range of insurance products including home contents insurance, car breakdown cover, life insurance, pet insurance and over 50 life insurance .

LV= employs around 4,000 people, serves over 3.8m customers and members, and manages around £9.5bn (as at 30 June 2010) on their behalf, via LV= Asset Management (LVAM). We are also the UK’s largest friendly society and a leading mutual financial services provider.

LVFS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, register number 110035. LVFS is a member of the ABI, the AFM and ILAG. Registered address: County Gates, Bournemouth BH1 2NF.