Smith & Williamson to launch artificial intelligence fund

Independent financial services group Smith & Williamson is launching an investment fund looking to tap into the rise of robots and artificial intelligence (AI). The Smith & Williamson Artificial Intelligence fund will be co-run by Chris Ford and Tim Day, who joined the group's asset management arm in 2015 from Pictet, where they headed its global equity team. The pair will run the global fund as a high conviction portfolio of 30-35 stocks, with no reference to a stock market benchmark. The company says the fund will be diversified both geographically and by sector, although around half of its holdings will be in the US. Besides targeting companies that derive a significant proportion of their revenues from AI, the managers will also have the freedom to invest in related subsectors, such as robotics.