Broadwalk offers services hedge
By Tom Griggs

Broadwalk Asset Management is to launch the UK's first hedge fund focusing on the services sector, encompassing support services, construction, IT, transport and healthcare.

The fund will be managed by Charlie Cottam, who spent 12 years as an equity analyst for Cazenove and Panmure Gordon focusing on the support services sector. The fund will be small, aiming to raise just $10m (£5.1m) and will be domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Mr Cottam plans to launch the fund at the end of March.

He said "Services are one of the more difficult areas to understand because the companies are so diverse. I plan to take large positions relative to the size of the fund in stocks that are undervalued or not fully understood by the market." "It's certainly a great time to be launching a fund," said Robert Morton, support services analyst at Investec who recruited Mr Cottam for Panmure in 2002.

© The Financial Times Limited 2008