Alken Fund Absolute Return Europe

Alken Asset Management currently run €1.5bn AUM across 7 funds and seg mandates and have generally transitioned into a multi-asset boutique after initially launching in 2005 as an equity long/short shop. The Alken Fund Absolute Return Europe fund is a fundamental, bottom-up stock picking strategy, using in-depth business analysis to build an information advantage when analyzing companies. The team take a long-term view for their investment horizon, providing them the flexibility for fundamentals to ultimately be reflected in the price. Further, the team ensure concentration in their best ideas based on conviction (top 10 positions typically 25-40% of the long book). Long positions typically consist of structural winners, turnaround stories, emerging businesses, or cyclical stocks at an earnings trough, while shorts are found in overvalued companies, businesses in structural decline and companies with over-levered balance sheets. The funds net can be between 0 – 60% with a historical average of 44% since inception, while the gross can be between 80-110%. The team are currently bullish on the outlook for value investing and are running a net towards the top end (currently 58%), owing to the attractive market opportunities they are seeing. At present, the portfolio is invested in c. 50 longs and 15 shorts.