Moreton Capital Partners (MCP) has launched its global commodity futures fund, targeting an initial investment of USD1 billion.
Led by Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and co-founder Les Finemore, the firm writes that the MCP Global Commodities Alpha Fund will be market-neutral across a broad universe of more than 70 global commodity futures and options, spanning agriculture, energy and metals.
Designed for institutional stability, the Fund aims for consistent risk-adjusted returns, targeting a Sharpe ratio of over 1.5 and >15 per cent net annual returns, while maintaining a strict low-beta profile. It is underpinned by sophisticated Agentic AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Machine Learning, combined with quant research and MCP’s deep commodity domain expertise.
At its core, MCP writes that it is a technology company leveraging proprietary machine learning infrastructure and large-scale feature engineering to identify and exploit inefficiencies across commodity futures. Processing hundreds of thousands of daily data points, spanning supply/demand fundamentals, positioning, and volatility, its AI engine generates systematic trading signals across global markets. Unlike static, rule-based systems, MCP’s adaptive models evolve with changing market structures.
The firm writes that Finemore brings over a decade of experience in systematic investment management, physical trading, and agronomic research. He previously served as CIO and co-founder of Imbue Capital, where he built systematic trading strategies across energy, metals, and agriculture. MCP’s Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Alistair Fullerton entered the commodity markets in Hong Kong in 2013 following a decade on the sell side in derivatives, where he has extensive experience launching and scaling commodity-driven enterprises and FX.
“Over the last eight years, we have evolved and refined the strategy, through times of significant market turbulence including COVID-19, and several hot wars. Global commodity markets are increasingly financialised, and macroeconomic factors matter more than ever. Using our proprietary macro-based features in our models, we strategically capitalise on these changes,” Finemore says.
The investment management firm runs a market-neutral portfolio, intentionally balancing long and short exposures across commodity groups. This design ensures that the net directional exposure is minimal, and performance is driven by relative value and alpha signals, rather than by broad commodity price trends.
“Investors don’t need more commodity beta. They can buy that cheaply. What they’re seeking is consistent, uncorrelated alpha. Our strategy is market- and sector-neutral by design, so returns come from relative mispricings, not from placing big concentrated bets and hoping oil or copper rallies. Combining institutional-grade risk and operations with the pace of a technology start-up, our investors get the governance they expect, but the innovation speed they usually don’t. That’s a rare mix in the world of commodities,” says the CIO.
MCP writes that its new share class structure empowers investors to scale their exposure to optimise their cash efficiency. The Core Class targets 12.5 per cent annualised volatility, while the Levered Class delivers 25 per cent volatility for those seeking high-conviction, cash-efficient returns.
Fullerton, who has been leading the Investment Manager’s build-out in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), says that the firm’s DNA has been shaped by years of combined experience across commodity markets.
“Our portfolio and operational risk management infrastructure is built to meet the standards of the world’s most sophisticated global allocators. In a highly volatile sector, MCP’s framework is designed to smooth the sharp swings common in commodity strategies, while our risk protocols position us to navigate routine market fluctuations to severe left-tail events,” says Fullerton.
