George Gatch & co. have expanded their mutual fund roster. On Thursday, JPMorgan [see profile] formally unveiled the JPMorgan Research Equity Long/Short Fund. [ SEC filing]

Terance Chen JPMorgan Funds Portfolio Manager

The fund seeks to provide exposure to equity-like returns while aiming to reduce downside risk. It shoots for "a third to half the volatility of a typical S&P 500 product," said portfolio manager Terance Chen in an interview with The MFWire.com.

"This is a concept we've been thinking about for a while," Chen said. "We've been incubating a similar strategy for a little less than two years."

Demand prompted JPMorgan to offer the fund in a '40 Act format, he said.

"We started this strategy for institutional investors and we got feedback from people saying that it's a great idea and we should deliver that in a retail format," Chen said.

Expense ratios are 340 basis points for A shares (JLSAX), 390 bps for C shares (JLSCX) and 315 bps for Select Class Shares (JLSSX).

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Company Press Release

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 / -- J.P. Morgan Funds, the mutual fund arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) has launched a new equities mutual fund, the JP Morgan Research Equity Long/Short Fund (A shares: JLSAX).

The Research Equity Long/Short Fund seeks to provide individual investors with exposure to equity-like returns while striving to reduce downside risk and limit volatility, offering a more conservative approach for investors returning to equities.

The fund is managed by senior portfolio manager Terance Chen, who has more than 16 years of investment experience at J.P. Morgan and who is also lead manager of the JP Morgan Research Market Neutral Fund (A shares: JMNAX). The Research Equity Long/Short Fund is also backed by the insights of more than 30 career research analysts, giving it a significant research advantage in identifying undervalued and overvalued securities.

In order to provide long term capital appreciation, the fund engages in the following strategies:

Using the research team's insights, the portfolio invests in attractively valued securities, offset by short positions in stocks which appear expensive. Long/short pair trades within sectors aims to generate returns while minimizing volatility.

Maintains a relatively low net market exposure to minimize market risk while emphasizing bottoms-up, fundamental stock selection in generating returns

The Fund invests primarily in U.S. securities and does not employ leverage or use of derivatives, beyond cash futures.

"The JP Morgan Research Equity Long/Short Fund provides another option for diversification as investors adjust their current portfolio for new market realities," said George Gatch, CEO of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Americas. "This fund is a dynamic alternative to typical approaches found in pure market neutral strategies, while seeking to provide low correlation to equity and bond markets."

J.P. Morgan Funds is 2nd in net flows for all U.S. mutual fund companies as of 7/31/10 and is the 4th largest mutual fund firm in the U.S., with $393 billion in assets under management (according to Morningstar, as of 7/31/10). It offers over 100 mutual fund products across the full range of asset classes, as well as separately managed accounts and retirement products.

 

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