Jupiter Asset Management has launched a higher-leveraged version of its US$3.8 billion Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return ( GEAR ) strategy.

Aimed at sophisticated professional investors, GEARx adopts the same investment process as the well-established GEAR strategy, which has been running since 2009.

Each day, the team’s proprietary computer-based model assesses 40 million data points across a universe of 7,000 investible companies against a range of proprietary stock selection strategies.

Both strategies are managed by Amadeo Alentorn and the Jupiter Systematic Equities team, which runs US$14.5 billion in total assets under management.

In the five years to the end of March 2025, GEAR delivered annualized net performance of 10.7% ( net of cash 8% ), with an annualized volatility of 4.8%. The strategy has delivered 17 consecutive quarters of positive performance until the end of March.

GEARx incorporates higher leverage and volatility constraints than GEAR to appeal to the broad base of global clients that invest in hedge funds – a market that was worth over US$5 trillion in 2024.

'Powerful diversifier'

The strategy has a typical gross leverage of up to 4x, compared to 2x for GEAR. At 12%, GEARx has twice the targeted maximum annualized volatility limit of GEAR, for an expected return of cash + 10%, versus an expected return of cash +5% for GEAR.

Jupiter’s seven-member Systematic Equities team employs an equity-market-neutral investment approach for both strategies, resulting in returns uncorrelated with broader equity markets.

The strategy has delivered uncorrelated returns over all time periods, with the correlation to MSCI World being close to zero, highlighting its independence from broader equity market movements, Jupiter says.

This lack of correlation has made the strategy a powerful diversifier, offering investors meaningful protection and return during periods when traditional assets have come under pressure, according to the asset manager.

“We believe systematic investing has an advantage because it is dispassionate and not prone to human bias," Alentorn says. Indeed, our process seeks to exploit other investors’ psychological and behavioural biases. Markets are inefficient, and we seek to exploit the inefficiencies we find.”