How does the Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return Fund invest?
Updated:
24 FEB, 2026
By Xiaoying Zhou from RankiaPro Europe
The fund Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return (Class I USD Acc) is an alternative management strategy classified as Equity Market Neutral. Its primary objective is to generate absolute returns with minimal correlation to traditional equity markets, using a purely systematic and quantitative approach.
1. General fund data
- ISIN: IE00BLP5S684
- Creation date: 30/06/2009
- Risk Profile: 2/7
- Reference Currency: USD
- Current expenses: 0.81%
- Benchmark: US Effective Federal Funds Rate
2. Qualitative analysis
Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return is an actively managed fund. The portfolio construction is based on the daily and systematic analysis of the largest and most liquid companies in the world.
Investment philosophy of Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return
The management is carried out by the systematic equity team of Jupiter AM, led by Amadeo Alentorn. The fundamental premise of the fund is that markets are not fully efficient due to the behavioral biases of investors, such as herding or loss aversion. The process seeks to exploit these anomalies through a purely data-driven approach, eliminating human subjectivity from the selection process.
Investment process and factors
The Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return team monitors a universe of approximately 7,000 global companies, selecting long and short positions daily based on five independent proprietary criteria:
- Dynamic Valuation: identification of undervalued assets according to cash flow metrics.
- Sustainable Growth: focus on the quality of the balance sheet and recurrence of profits.
- Business Management: evaluation of efficiency in capital allocation.
- Market Sentiment: analysis of analyst reviews and market flows.
- Macroeconomic Environment: adaptation of the weight of the previous factors according to the current market regime.
The portfolio is rebalanced daily to ensure that the projected Beta is around 0 and the net market exposure remains neutral (close to 0%).
3. Quantitative Analysis
The data presented below reflect the close of the last available monthly report (January 2026).
Profitability Metrics and Benchmark
As of January 31, 2026, the Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return fund has demonstrated a robust ability to generate consistent returns, comfortably beating its target of exceeding the US Federal Funds Target Rate. The excess return in the last year has been primarily driven by the short book in high-growth sectors that suffered valuation corrections.
Risk Management and Volatility
Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return operates under a strict volatility discipline, with an internal goal of staying below 6% annualized.
The Sharpe Ratio, which measures the efficiency of risk-adjusted return, is significantly above the average of its category (Morningstar Alt - Equity Market Neutral), 2.02 vs 0.33.
4. Portfolio construction and positioning
The strategy stands out for its granularity, typically maintaining between 800-850 positions.
The Jupiter Merian Global Equity Absolute Return fund typically maintains a gross exposure of approximately 200% (100% long / 100% short). The net exposure at the end of January was 0.14%, confirming its neutral profile.
Given the use of derivatives for short positions, the fund maintains a significant part of its assets in high liquidity assets as collateral. Among its largest positions are US Treasury Bills, followed by long positions in quality technology companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
In conclusion, the GEAR is a precision tool for tail risk management. In a scenario of normalized interest rates, its ability to monetize the dispersion between values gives it a competitive advantage over traditional multi-asset funds. It is a Article 8 fund according to the European SFDR regulation, which ensures a robust integration of ESG criteria in its quantitative model.
