Quilter Investors has launched an absolute return equity fund for its WealthSelect Managed Portfolio Service.

A sub-advised mandate, the strategy will be managed by Janus Henderson and will mirror the Janus Henderson Absolute Return fund.

The long/short fund will aim to provide a positive return over a 12-month period, irrespective of market conditions, by investing in large and mega-cap companies, mainly in the UK but also in Europe and the US.

Quilter has also appointed Jupiter to replace BlackRock as manager of the Quilter Investors UK Equity Growth fund.

The fund will be managed by Chris Smith, manager of Jupiter’s UK Growth fund, which the sub-advised mandate will be based on.

Stuart Clark, portfolio manager of Quilter’s WealthSelect, said: “Many all-weather strategies have aimed to achieve an absolute return but have fallen short, yet [Janus Henderosn’s] strategy is somewhat an outlier in terms of having been able to meet its objectives over a circa 20-year time period.

“The team is incredibly experienced, and our analysis shows that the style of the fund is genuinely different from most other long/short managers. We are excited to add this position to the portfolios to help us navigate clients through what is an uncertain market.”

He added: “We are also really pleased to be bringing the team at Jupiter on board to run our UK Equity Growth fund.

“Chris Smith and the team there have a strong and consistent growth-centric investment process and have a proven history of identifying high-quality growing companies in the UK, but crucially at attractive valuations.”