Intech to run ‘problem child’ US large caps

Barclays Bank has awarded Enhanced Investment Technologies (Intech) two sub-advisory mandates worth in excess of $200m (E154m) for its recently launched multi-manager portfolios, aimed at UK retail investors.

Barclays has recruited 17 investment managers to run the portfolios, while claiming many competitors typically offer fewer than five.

Intech, a subsidiary of Janus Capital Group, will manage a US large-cap core equity strategy benchmarked against the S&P 500 and a US large-cap growth equity strategy benchmarked against the S&P 500/BARRA Growth index.

“From our point of view it’s a very important platform for us to grow business in the UK,” said David Schofield, head of European business at Janus Capital Group. “We are a specialist manager and obviously this is a good way for us to make our strategies available to clients in the UK and obviously Barclays is a very well respected institution.”

Intech strategies capitalise on the natural price movement of individual stocks seeking to offer better upside potential than the market, with less relative risk.

Mr Schofield described US large caps as the “problem child” for many investors. “There is this fallacy that US large cap indices are too efficient and can’t be beaten. Intech would challenge that,” he says.

“We get a great deal of interest from investors who are dissatisfied with investing passively in US large caps, and also with performance of some active asset managers and are choosing this particular type of strategy as a solution to this problem child. Clearly it’s a major asset class and you don’t want it to be a problem.”

Other managers appointed by Barclays for the multi-manager offering include Aberdeen, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Invesco, Schroders and Barclays Global Investors.

The portfolios have already attracted nearly L3bn (E4.3bn).

Schofield: ‘fallacy that US large cap indices are too efficient and can’t be beaten’