Legg Mason Fund of Hedge Funds Looks to Sidestep Volatile Market

Legg Mason Global Asset Management announced the launch of a fixed income, multi-strategy fund of hedge funds in response to growing investor demand for assets that can withstand rampant market volatility.

The $627 billion asset manager said the Permal Hedge Strategies Fund is aimed at high net worth clients and will invest in a broad range of fixed income strategies. It will also employ flexible asset allocation, and will move capital between credit and non-credit strategies, Legg Mason added.

"Given market volatility and investor demand for lower risk products, we have seen more desire for lower correlated, alternative investment strategies," Matt Schiffman, Legg Mason's head of global marketing said in a statement. "The fund is designed to take Permal's existing product range and add increased liquidity and transparency through a publicly traded offering."

The firm also said the new fund will include smaller allocations to event-driven strategies, such as risk arbitrage, distressed debt, special situations, activists and global macro strategies, which are built to withstand volatile markets. As the Senior Editor of Advanced Trading, Justin Grant plays a key role in steering the magazine's coverage of the latest issues affecting the buy-side trading community. Since joining Advanced Trading in 2010, Grant's news analysis has touched on everything from the latest ... View Full Bio