EUROPE - European institutional assets in 130/30 and other allied strategies exceed €6bn, according to a survey published in the October edition of IPE.

Research conducted by IPE suggests total global institutional assets amount to some €18.9bn.

ABN Amro Asset Management alone is planning to develop 10 such strategies, including themed funds in utilities, financials and energy.

As is to be expected, given their status as early movers, it is the quant houses who dominate in terms of assets under management.

Robeco says it is working on what it describes as an "innovative" emerging markets 130/30 strategy.

JP Morgan Asset Management, which applies a screening model with fundamental analysis, was one of the first movers into 130/30 in July 2004 with its US large cap 130/30 strategy.

GSAM then followed in June 2005 with its first strategy, shortly before BGI in October of the same year with its Alpha Advantage 500 B fund.

Fidelity says it is planning an optimised European 130/30 fund "in the near future" while Henderson and Invesco are applying to develop global equities strategies and Fortis is planning to go into US equities.

But the frenzy of activity in product launches highlights the lack of track record in 130/30 strategies in many cases.

Morningstar figures published at the end of last month show most asset manager offering 130/30 have been running the strategies for less than a year, and some even less than six months.

For more information about this research, watch out for your copy of the 130/30 supplement published by IPE Magazine this month, or contact the IPE subscriptions department by email at morgan.jones@ipe.com.