19 January, 2015 | By Peter Walker

US fund manager Gamco Investors is set to launch a UK-listed closed-end fund investing in US equities and aiming to raise between £100m to £250m.

The Gabelli Value Plus+ Trust will be managed by Gabelli Funds and is due to begin trading in February on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol GVP.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of the Witan Trust and the current chairman of the Association of Investment Companies, will be the trust’s chairman.

The board will also include investment trust veterans such as Richard Fitzalan-Howard, executive chairman of FF&P Asset Management Limited and Rudolf Bohli, chief executive of RBR Capital.

Mr Bell stated that the trust will provide the UK investment community with an actively managed fund investing in equity securities of US companies, applying Gabelli’s proven fundamental bottom up private market value approach.

The management team of the trust will include Robert Leininger, Mario and Marc Gabelli, and Caesar Bryan, while also being supported by a team of over 30 research analysts.

Mr Leininger stated that the focus is on franchise businesses with predictable and repeat business models, defendable brands and market shares, which orients strategy towards companies with pricing power. “This also tends to position our portfolio in front of a lot of merger activity”, he added.

While the trust will invest in the US, Gamco continues to have the ability to invest globally. The Gabelli organisation has operated from central London for 15 years assisting its New York headquarters in global investment idea generation.