The launch, subject to regulatory approval, will enable investors to gain exposure to companies, “best placed to harness the transformational opportunities presented by AI,” says the company which has a number of business covering personal and business financial and tax advice, wealth management, family office services and fund management among others.
The fund will be managed by former Pictet managers Chris Ford and Tim Day. It will be a high-conviction global equity fund offering investors access to a concentrated portfolio of companies that derive most or all of their revenues and growth from AI.
The fund will be managed from London but will aim to invest globally to seek opportunities in AI around the world. It will invest in the wider AI sector extending “beyond AI subsets such as robotics.” It will be a fund unconstrained by a benchmark and will be broadly diversified across economic sectors and global markets, holding around half of its positions outside the US.
The company says the fund will also use and benefit from AI being embedded within the investment process. This proprietary model will enhance the efficiency with which the managers can identify investable companies for the 30-35 stock portfolio.
The fund is the first launch for Mr Ford and Mr Day since they joined Smith & Williamson in 2015, having previously co-led Pictet Asset Management’s Global Equities business in London. Mr Ford has two decades of experience in North American and Global equity markets, specialising in the technology sector. Mr Day has three decades of experience in North American and Global equities.
Mr Ford said: “AI is powering the fastest growing areas in the global economy and companies are increasingly seeking to capitalise on the opportunities this brings. The Smith & Williamson Artificial Intelligence Fund will seek to fully capture this opportunity by gaining exposure to the companies around the world which derive significant competitive advantages from their superior ability to harness AI.
“Embedding our own artificial intelligence into the fund’s investment process is a demonstration of our conviction in AI’s utility and we are excited to leverage its power as we seek to identify the business models most successfully profiting from this transcendent technology.”
Ed Rosengarten, head of funds at Smith & Williamson, said: “As one of the leading global AI hubs, London is the ideal place from which to manage the Fund and we look forward to offering investors access to one of the most exciting structural growth opportunities in world equity markets today.”