Alma Selwood Absolute Return Credit
Overview
Alma Selwood Absolute Return Credit is an investment grade credit long short fund.
The fund’s management is delegated to Selwood AM LLP.
Share Class
NAV
Cumulative Performance (%)
Fund Inception 23 March 2016
| Daily | Monthly | Ytd | 1Yr | 3Yr | 5Yr | Incept. | Incept.Date |
|---|
The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Strategy & Manager
Fund Strategy
The Strategy trades a single investment strategy focused on liquid credit indices within the investment grade credit space. It implements the strategy by investing in CDX and iTraxx indices, tranches of these, index options and single name CDS.
The goal is to achieve a market neutral portfolio which has a positive carry and positive convexity. The strategy attempts to monetise the dislocation between the actual credit spread of the CDX and iTraxx index and that implied by the CDS of the underlying index components. There has been a persistent difference between these spreads since the indices were launched in 2004, largely due to the indices being used predominantly to hedge credit exposure. The team will buy CDS on the most risky single name credits in order to minimise the risk of default to the portfolio.
Investment Manager
Selwood AM LLP was founded by Sofiane Gharred in 2015. Mr Gharred is a pioneer of the synthetic credit derivatives market with 17 years of experience on both the buy side and sell side. He has gathered a team of seasoned professionals dedicated to offer investors access to unique alternative credit investments. Selwood AM LLP aims at generating superior risk-adjusted returns over a broad range of market environments.
Key Persons
Sofiane Gharred
CIO
Prior to founding Selwood AM, Mr Sofiane Gharred was a partner at Chenavari Financial Group. During Mr Gharred’s tenure, he developed and managed the liquid Corporate Credit Strategy, developed the risk management framework for the firm and significantly contributed to Chenavari winning multiple awards over his 7 years at the firm. Prior to that, Mr Gharred was Managing Director and Global Head of Structured Credit Trading at Credit Agricole CIB. He was responsible for all structured credit proprietary activities with over 20 traders reporting to him. In this capacity, he successfully managed a $200bn delta equivalent correlation book across a variety of credit markets, notably producing positive returns during the correlation crisis in 2005 and the sub-prime crisis in 2007.
Mr Gharred has a strong quantitative background, with an MSc (Hons) in Applied Mathematics in Finance graduating from Ecole Centrale Paris, and a DEA (Hons) in Mathematical modelling in economics from Sorbonne University.
Statistics & Commentary
Performance
The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Investment Manager's Commentary
as of 31/12/2025Market Review and Outlook
The geopolitical backdrop was extremely volatile through Jan. US ousting of Venezuela’s President Maduro on drugs and conspiracy charges was remarkably well-received by markets with only oil and gold moving with any real volatility. Mid-month saw Trump up his rhetoric over Greenland suggesting the US would need to own it through either negotiation or military action. Additional tariffs of 25% were threatened against eight European countries who supported Denmark’s rule. This near unprecedented move was quickly de-escalated after external lobbying and Trump backed down on both the threat of military action and tariffs. US/Iran tensions were further stoked with the threat of military strikes on the back of the regime’s aggressive crack down on internal protests and many dead. This risk was, for the moment, tempered as Iranian leaders dialled back on their threats to execute more protesters. Fed independence also came back to the fore as the US administration (via the DoJ) issued subpoenas against the Chair and central bank, threatening criminal indictment over the HQ refurbishment and Powell’s testimony to Congress. The FOMC met for the first time this year, holding rates as expected with only two dissenters. This was overshadowed by Trump announcing Kevin Warsh as his choice for replacing Powell as Fed Chair. While Warsh has a more hawkish view over the Fed’s balance sheet management, his focus on inflation should ensure he does not act on rates as per the administration’s direction. Macro data were largely supportive. The US jobs backdrop remained resolute even if the NFPs, ADP and JOLTS all missed cons. The all-important unemployment rate fell to 4.4% with the Nov spike to 4.6% also revised down a tenth. The 4W moving average of weekly jobless claims dropped to a rounded 205k, the lowest in almost 2Y. US CPI missed in Dec, core falling to 2.6%. EU CPI also missed in Dec with headline falling to the bloc target of 2.0%, while core also improved to 2.3%. EU final PMI composite was revised down to 51.5, but remained expansionary, supporting above cons. growth.
Facts & Documents
Facts
Fund Domicile: Luxembourg
Fund Type: UCITS SICAV
Fund Launch: 23 March 2016
Base Currency: EUR
Depositary, Administrator, Transfert Agent: CACEIS Investor Services Bank S.A.
Dealing: Weekly with a 4-day notice
Cut-off time: 3 pm CET
Management Company: Alma Capital Investment Management
Investment Manager: Selwood Asset Management LLP
Countries where the fund is registered:
Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden
Sustainability-related disclosures:
The information related to the integration of sustainability risks and to the potential adverse sustainability impacts at the sub-fund level can be found in the prospectus of the Fund.
Identifiers:
I1C-E
ISIN: LU1769346898
Ticker: DPSI1CE LX
Launch: 13 Apr 2018
I1C-G
ISIN: LU1769346625
Ticker: DBSILCG LX
Launch: 6 Feb 2019
I1C-U
ISIN: LU1769346971
Ticker: DPSI1CU LX
Launch: 13 Apr 2018
I2C-E
ISIN: LU1769347276
Ticker: DBSI2CE LX
Launch: 13 Apr 2018
R1C-E
ISIN: LU1769346039
Ticker: DBSR1CE LX
Launch: 13 Apr 2018
R1C-U
ISIN: LU1769346112
Ticker: DBSR1CU LX
Launch: 13 Apr 2018
I2C-U
ISIN: LU1769347359
Ticker: DBSI2CU LX
Launch: 31 Jan 2020
Documents
Subscribe to the Fund Monthly Newsletteravailable upon request