UK / IRELAND – Swedish insurance group, Skandia Insurance Company has established Skandia Global Funds, a global mutual fund company domiciled in Dublin but operating from London, New York and Hong Kong.

The new company will initially offer 20 sub-funds but hopes to increase its range to 30 by the end of the year. The funds are classified as UCITS in Europe therefore allowing unrestricted distribution throughout the EU.

Skandia has set up an investment research committee to take care of selecting managers and determining the size and investment strategy for the sub-funds. The committee comprises members from Skandia companies in Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, UK and US.

A spokesman for Skandia says the new venture is open to any investment opportunity and style. “We will research what each loca l market wants and intend to invest the new funds across the full range of asset classes, sectors and company size.

“This naturally means we are looking for managers, who will be monitored on an ongoing basis, that offer different investment styles and practices.”

Managers already selected include ABN Amro, Alliance Capital, Blackrock, Carlson, Fidelity, Invesco, JP Morgan, Pimco and Wells Capital.

Skandia will market the funds in 20 countries via the existing network of Skandia companies and third-party distributors. The three bases in London, New York and Hong Kong will offer full support services including sales, marketing and customer service.

New York will cover the Americas, Hong Kong the Asia-Pacific markets and London the European and African regions.

Skandia has more than $95bn (€101bn) in assets under management.