LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. fund manager Franklin Templeton said on Monday it was launching a new global currency fund headed by its star bond investor Michael Hasenstab and one of his chief lieutenants.
Hasenstab, who has made his name buying markets shunned by others, such as Ireland at the height of its debt crisis, said the new fund would take "long" or "short" exposure to currencies of any country, including developed and developing markets.
"While our investment philosophy and approach to managing currencies has remained unchanged over nearly three decades, this new fund enables us to focus on our high-conviction currency views," California-based Hasenstab said.
The new fund's other main manager will be Sonal Desai, who is senior vice president and director of research at Templeton's flagship $130 billion global macro division.
The launch comes at time of high volatility in global foreign exchange markets, with Britain's pound and Japan's yen both moving more than 15 percent against the dollar this year, while several big emerging market currencies have soared. (For graphic click