Amundi and Sand Grove Capital launch event driven UCITS fund

Amundi, the largest European asset manager, and Sand Grove Capital Management LLP, (“Sand Grove”) announce the launch of the Amundi Sand Grove Event Driven Fund (the “Fund”). Available on the Amundi Alternatives UCITS platform, the Fund employs a global eventdriven [1] equity strategy with a European tilt and seeks to capitalise on mispricings in corporate events such as takeovers, mergers, exchange offers, restructurings and liquidations. [2]

The Fund draws on Sand Grove’s founder and CIO Simon Davies’ 22 years of expertise in event-driven investing, cultivated over multiple market cycles [3], as well as Amundi’s market-leading UCITS [4] managed account platform. It deploys a differentiated value-biased and contrarian approach by focusing on lessfollowed and more complex situations. The objective is to generate alpha [5] with low correlation to equity markets, while applying a rigorous and fundamental investment process based on a disciplined risk management framework.

The Fund’s investment strategy is a combination of two sub-strategies: 1) merger-arbitrage, consisting of deals triggered by hard catalyst events, such as formally announced and contractual M&A [6] transactions; and (2) equity special situations, with deals triggered by corporate catalyst events, such as spin-offs, divestments, asset sales or other pre- and post-M&A activities.

Nathanaël Benzaken, Head of Amundi Alternatives, said: “Our track record in carefully selecting relevant strategies and managers from the alternative investment universe7 over the past 25 years has established Amundi as a trusted partner to both clients and investment managers globally. We are delighted to partner with Sand Grove to expand our UCITS range with the new Amundi Sand Grove Event Driven Fund, with the ambition to bring their unique expertise in a UCITS format to investors globally.”

Simon Davies, Sand Grove’s Founder and CIO, added: “Our unique approach to event driven investing will deliver a differentiated risk - return profile to the UCITS market. In Amundi, we have found the perfect partner for this exciting new launch. The partnership will allow the Sand Grove team to focus on what we do best, while also benefitting from the experience and reputation of Europe’s leading asset manager.
Together, we have strong conviction in the outlook for European M&A. Activity levels are set to pick up rapidly on the back of improving macro data and financing markets. With fewer specialists focusing on the region, the current elevated rates of return are here to stay.”

Amundi has been investing in alternatives for over 25 years and has been a leader [7] in hedge fund [8] managed account investing with a recognised alternatives UCITS platform of $6bn [9] in assets under management.