State Street Global Advisors will launch an emerging markets enhanced equity fund, and a world country enhanced equity fund, on the back of demand for its global index plus (GIPS) strategy.

The GIPS product was developed in Australia six and a half years ago, before being offered to clients globally. The fund now has $10 billion from Australian clients, and about $US100 billion in total. Visiting Australia, the Boston-based head of enhanced equity at SSgA, Ted Gekas, said the manager was getting demand from Australian clients to extend the global product, and was looking to launch an all world country, ex-Australia product in the next couple of weeks. SSgA is launching an emerging markets enhanced product in the US this week and Gekas said an Australian vehicle would be set up if there was demand. “There is an appetite in the Australian market,” he said. “Players are quite interested to fund strategies without an historic track record and have been first movers.” Gekas said the demand for the product was due in part to the consistency of returns, with the 12-month returns sitting between 0.61 per cent and 2.14 per cent above the benchmark since the fund’s inception in 2000. “We get interest from those wanting the alpha only from the strategy, or because of the beta component, because the strategy is so consistent,” he said.