Elizabeth Corley, CEO at Allianz Global Investors comments:
"By launching our Allianz RiskMaster range we are making a strategic commitment to help UK advisers find the right balance for their clients between returns, and risk management, in today's challenging environment.
"Volatile markets, low interest rates and an increased sensitivity to risk mean that advisers face an increasingly difficult task just when their clients are asking even more of them. We believe that what makes RiskMaster really different and special is the combined and proven expertise of risklab and our multi-asset team.
"While this approach is new for us in working with UK financial advisers, our skills are tried and tested in other markets and we believe we are in a strong position to help advisers and their clients meet their current challenges."
The Allianz RiskMaster range consists of four actively-managed, risk-profiled, multi-asset funds: the Allianz RiskMaster Defensive, Allianz RiskMaster Conservative, Allianz RiskMaster Moderate and Allianz RiskMaster Growth funds.
The funds are designed to help advisers align their clients' risk profiles with the appropriate investment solution. AllianzGI has worked closely with Distribution Technology who have risk profiled the four funds, and the funds will reside in Distribution Technology's four most popular categories 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The funds combine both strategic and dynamic asset allocation approaches. The strategic asset allocation step ensures broad diversification across a wide selection of asset classes. The proprietary dynamic asset allocation approach aims to mitigate risk whilst capturing upside potential.
The funds are managed by a team which draws on the best risk management capabilities and multi-asset expertise from across AllianzGI.
With a team of 30 investment professionals, risklab is the centre of competence for risk management solutions within AllianzGI and as at end 2011 had more than £20bn in assets under supervision and £130bn in assets under consultation.
AllianzGI's multi-asset team was founded in 1997 and manages over £47bn of which £33bn is managed according to active asset allocation and risk management strategies.
Dr Reinhold Hafner, CEO at risklab says:
"The RiskMaster range combines diversification and risk control with cost effective implementation to provide an investment solution that meets an investor's risk profile. The funds reflect the need for sophisticated solutions to meet the current challenges of low gilt yields, deteriorated credit ratings for sovereign debt and the high volatility of risky assets such as equities.
The strategy or 'engine' beneath the RiskMaster funds is employed across a broad range of institutional mandates and has successfully weathered the crises since 2005. We are therefore pleased to now be able to offer this expertise to the UK retail investor via the RiskMaster funds.
Financial advisers are under increasing pressure to ensure that their clients are invested in products that meet their individual risk profiles. To demonstrate the importance of risk management and the confidence AllianzGI has in its risk management capabilities, it has made a fee promise.
If any RiskMaster fund has its launch risk category changed by Distribution Technology, AllianzGI will waive the fund's annual management fee, up to a maximum of 0.75%, for three months following the change.
This commitment will initially be for a period of twelve months from launch and will be reviewed at the end of that period and every twelve months thereafter.
Nick Smith, Managing Director at Allianz Global Investors concludes:
"Research from AllianzGI's behavioural finance team shows that investors' aversion to losses is twice as great as the pleasure they get from an equivalent gain.
"The Allianz RiskMaster range has been designed with this in mind by focusing on risk as well as potential returns by providing an actively managed, risk-profiled, multi-asset solution. Our expert team understands and manages the risks, so that investors don't have to."
