Cumberland Private Wealth Management has launched a new fund that aims to allow clients to diversify portfolios without depending on market behavior.

The Market Neutral Fund, which focuses on the technology sector, is designed to earn positive absolute return while limiting market and liquidity risks by exploiting pricing inefficiencies across public markets, particularly the NYSE and NASDAQ listed equity securities. The fund is intended for high net worth individuals, financial advisors, family offices and smaller institutional investors.

"The [fund] can be a difficult concept to grasp for some investors traditionally used to making money when markets go up, and losing when they go down. However, investors today are looking for alternatives in a volatile market that has limited yield. The fund can play a vital role in optimizing portfolio risk while enhancing long term returns," John Wilson, chief investment officer at Cumberland, said in a statement.

Wilson, who has successfully run a similar fund in the past, says such products can be set up in various asset classes, including equities, bonds, or futures, as long as the strategy is able to identify and predict a significant market inefficiency. The new fund uses offsetting long and short positions to reduce overall market risk, as well as specific sector and industry risks.

Founded in 1997, Toronto-based Cumberland specializes in discretionary investment services for HNWIs, their families and foundations with over $1 million in investable assets.