Investment house GLG Partners has launched its Japan CoreAlpha Equity Fund, a currency-hedged replica of its £698 million Japan CoreAlpha Fund.

Managed by Japan equity managers Stephen Harker and Neil Edwards, the new Dublin-listed fund is a direct mirror of their unhedged GLG Japan CoreAlpha Fund, which was last month awarded ‘Elite’ status by Morningstar.

One of the top performing funds in its sector, it has delivered a positive return of 9.95 per cent since the pair took over on 31 January 2006, compared to a sector average of -25.47 per cent, and 17.12 per cent over the last 12 months, compared to a sector average of 4.35 per cent.

The new fund will offer three share classes hedging yen exposure into the euro, dollar, or – from the end of the month – sterling. 

Richard Phillips, joint head of UK retail at GLG, said, ‘The Japan CoreAlpha fund has a fantastic track record and is consistently among the top performing funds in its sector. ‘We recognize, however, that some investors prefer to mitigate the currency risk when investing abroad so it makes sense to launch a new version of the fund for those keen to gain yen-hedged exposure to Stephen and Neil’s proven strategy.’

Charges will mirror those of the UK-domiciled fund, with an annual management charge of 1.5 per cent and a minimum investment of £1,000.