RQI Investors launch emerging markets strategy

RQI Investors has launched a new emerging markets strategy backed by seed capital from a major Australian super fund, as the quantitative equities manager expands its offering and investment team.

RQI did not name the Australian super fund. Financial Standard has reached out for comment.

The RQI Emerging Markets Diversified Alpha Fund draws on the firm's 15-year emerging markets track record and uses a range of data sources to identify investment opportunities while maintaining a focus on risk management.

The strategy targets long-term capital growth and income, with an objective of outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 2% a year over the long-term at similar levels of risk.

The launch adds to RQI's Diversified Alpha suite, which also includes the recently launched Global Diversified Alpha Fund, and follows several new mandates awarded to the manager globally this year.

RQI Investors chief executive Andrew Francis said the backing from a major client reflected growing confidence in the firm's systematic investment approach.

"The decision by a major client to seed our Emerging Markets Diversified Alpha strategy, together with the award of new mandates, are strong endorsements of our investment capabilities and reflect growing recognition of the value that quantitative investing can bring to client portfolios," Francis said.

He said demand across markets and client segments was creating opportunities to develop strategies around investor needs while maintaining focus on performance.

RQI has also expanded its team to 25 professionals with four new hires across investment, research and client capabilities.

John Conomos joins as investment director from Macquarie Group, where he was head of global quantitative research. Chang Hwan Sung has joined as senior quantitative portfolio manager, while having previously held roles at Invesco, BlackRock and Samsung Asset Management.

Sam Machen joins as quantitative research developer from Jacobi, while James Sutherland joins as quantitative researcher from Tibra Capital.

Francis said the appointments would strengthen RQI's research and investment capabilities as the business grows.

"These appointments deepen our investment and research capabilities, and reflect our continued commitment to innovation, strategy development and strong client outcomes," he said.

The appointments follow a year of new mandates and product expansion for RQI, with the manager positioning its systematic approach for further growth in Australia and overseas.