Bramdean Brings Alternative Investment To 'Mass Wealthy'

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

06 June 2007

Nicola Horlick's Bramdean Asset Management is preparing to launch a new alternative investment fund aimed at giving the less well-heeled investor the chance to gain exposure to hedge fund strategies.

The fund, to be known as Bramdean Alternatives Limited, will allow investors to gain exposure to certain specialist investments such as hedge funds, property, commodities and currencies for as little as GBP1,000. Bramdean and Axa are due to publish a prospectus for the London Stock Exchange-listed fund this week.

"There has never been a fund like this before," Horlick was quoted as saying by the UK daily, the Independent. "It's been difficult for the 'mass wealthy' to get access to these kinds of alternative investments. We are trying to democratise this new area which has been the preserve of the mega rich."

Horlick plans to spend the next month generating institutional interest in the fund at various roadshows. The fund offer will close at the end of June, with shares due to commence trading on July 9, according to the Independent.

Horlick shot to fame in the mid 1990s after her former employer, Morgan Grenfell Asset Management, refused to give her back her job as head of the firm following a period of maternity leave. In the process, for juggling a high-flying City career with the demands of raising six children, she earned the nickname of "superwoman" - a label she reportedly hates!

Horlick subsequently went to French bank Société Générale, where she set up SG Asset Management. Then in 2005, she got the green light from the Irish financial authorities to launch five hedge funds from Dublin with her new company Bramdean Asset Management, which was aimed primarily at attracting investment from high-net-worth individuals with GBP1 million to invest, and smaller pension funds.

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