The Neuberger Berman Commodity Strategy Fund, a part of the firm’s Alternative Funds, has filed for “actively managed exposure” to cryptos.

In an SEC filing, the Neuberger Berman Commodity Strategy Fund has permitted actively managed exposure to cryptocurrency investments and digital assets through i) cryptocurrency derivatives, such as bitcoin futures and ether futures, and (ii) investments in bitcoin trusts and exchange-traded funds to gain indirect exposure to bitcoin. (Opalesque)

The Form 497 filing further amended the fund’s Principal Investment Strategies to read as follows:

“The Fund may seek to gain investment exposure to cryptocurrencies and digital assets.  The Fund may seek to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, indirectly through cryptocurrency derivative instruments, such as bitcoin futures and ether futures traded on futures exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or indirectly through investments in investment vehicles that invest in cryptocurrencies. The Fund expects to gain exposure to these cryptocurrency investments primarily by investing through its Subsidiary.”

The Neuberger Berman Commodity Strategy Fund has assets under management of $161 million, according to CitywireUSA. The fund has generated a total return of 56.3% over one year.

A fund spokesperson told CitywireUSA that the exposure to bitcoin was primarily intended as an inflationary hedge given that crypto assets are scarce by definition. As such, the fund will not invest directly in bitcoin.

‘In the interim, however, they believe that there will be strong price trends, including relative price trends, and as such believe exposure to a diversified, albeit modest, portfolio of such crypto-assets offers another source of a potential return to the portfolio,’ the spokesperson said.

As a firm, Neuberger Berman is a reputed wealth manager with assets under management of $ 402 billion.

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