The investment banking division of Barclays has launched a new fund for wealth managers, family offices and retail fund managers in the UK.

The fund is a sterling share class of its $230 million commodity-based market neutral absolute return fund, the Barclays Capital Combats Fund.

It is based on the "combats" strategy devised in February 2009 which has produced an annualised net return of 4.77 per cent since then. The strategy aims to offer investors diversification as well as extraction of value by seeking out alpha in the commodities markets with no correlation to equities and credit.

Separately, the UK banking group was one of the 15 major banks to be downgraded by Moody's last week. The rating agency cited risks they face from volatile market conditions as the reason behind the move.