Man Group has launched its first two UCITS ETFs in Europe, including a strategy designed to combine global equity market exposure with protection against sustained market downturns. The launch comes at a particularly interesting time, with technology shares suffering a sharp sell-off amid renewed concerns about the outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) investment.
The Man Active Trend Enhanced UCITS ETF (MATE/MAET) combines exposure to developed-market equities, referencing the MSCI World Index, with an equally weighted systematic trend-following strategy. The latter seeks to identify and exploit sustained price movements across futures markets covering equities, bonds, commodities and currencies. By taking positions based on the direction of these trends, the strategy aims to generate additional returns and cushion losses when equity markets decline.
The second launch, the Man Active Global Infrastructure UCITS ETF (MGIN/MGIM), invests in listed infrastructure companies worldwide. Managed by Al Chu, it targets long-term capital growth through businesses operating essential infrastructure, including utilities, pipelines, airports, ports and communications networks. The strategy focuses on companies offering attractive growth prospects and relatively stable cash flows.
Both ETFs began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 4 November, with sterling and US dollar trading lines, alongside euro-denominated listings on Xetra and Euronext Milan. Deutsche Börse lists annual product costs of 0.95% for the trend-following ETF and 0.85% for the infrastructure fund.
The launches extend Man Group’s ETF offering beyond the US, where it began introducing actively managed funds in 2025.
Our view
David Batchelor, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “The timing of Man Group’s European ETF debut is striking. The Nasdaq fell 5.5% on 5 November, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 12.2%, as investors questioned the sustainability of AI-related spending. Such moves underline the risks of portfolios heavily exposed to the technology giants that dominate global equity indices. MATE offers an interesting alternative, retaining exposure to global equities while adding a strategy that can potentially profit from sustained trends in other markets, including when share prices are falling. For investors concerned about concentration risk, that additional source of returns could prove valuable.
However, trend-following should not be mistaken for guaranteed downside protection. These strategies generally need time to identify and respond to changing market conditions, meaning they can struggle with sudden sell-offs or markets that repeatedly reverse direction. MATE will also retain significant equity market exposure, while its 0.95% annual charge represents a considerable premium to conventional passive ETFs. MGIN offers another potential source of diversification, although listed infrastructure companies are not immune to equity market weakness”.
