BetaShares, a leading provider of Australian exchange traded products, today announced the launch of a new investment fund on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The BetaShares Australian Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund trades under the ASX Code “BBOZ” and aims to help investors profit from, or protect against, a declining Australian share market. It seeks to generate magnified returns that are negatively correlated to the returns of the Australian share market.
The Fund will invest its assets into cash and sell equity index futures contracts (ASX SPI 200 futures), which can be expected to generate a positive return when the S&P/ASX200 index declines and vice versa. The Fund’s short exposure to the S&P/ASX200 index will generally vary between 200% and 275% of the Fund’s total assets, and will be actively monitored and adjusted to stay within this range.
BetaShares Managing Director Alex Vynokur said that the newly launched BBOZ, together with the popular BetaShares Australian Equities Bear Hedge Fund (ASX Code “BEAR”), may be a useful tool for investors and investment advisors looking to protect their portfolios from a downturn in the Australian market.
“As a leading provider of exchange traded products in Australia, BetaShares’ aim is to offer a range of exposures for different market conditions”, said Mr Vynokur. “While Australian and global equities markets have recently enjoyed a period of strong investment performance, investors are expressing interest in exposures which help manage investment risk in the event of a downturn.
While any use of shorting must be approached by investors with caution and as a component of an investor’s overall portfolio, we believe that BBOZ will represent a useful investment tool, allowing informed investors to tactically manage their Australian market exposure, without the complexity of instruments like CFDs, or the risk of margin calls.”
Mr Vynokur added that BetaShares was in the process of launching a new fund that would provide a similar exposure to the US equities market in the coming weeks.
