Bridgewater Associatesfounded by billionaire investor ray dalio, has reportedly raised at least $800 million in recent months for a new fund strategy designed to help weather stock bears and generate returns that are negatively correlated with stocks.

The introduction of the strategy comes at a time when the hedge fund is looking to reshape its business after inception Dalio gave up controlsaid a Reuters report.

The hedge fund started the “Defensive Alpha” Strategy in July last year, the report said, citing regulatory filings. Two fund vehicles under the strategy’s name have raised $836.4 million from investors since inception, she added.

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Bridgewater invited a limited number of clients, including seed investors, and is now offering the strategy to more investors, the report said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Price promotion: Markets have seen significant bouts of volatility since last year, extending into the first two months of 2023 The Federal Reserve is trying to curb decades of inflation that remains stubborn.

The S&P 500 plunged 19.4% in 2022, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 33.1%, posting the largest annual percentage declines for both indexes since 2008. Pure Alpha rose nearly 9.5%, outperforming global stock indices, the report said.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY YTD up over 6% while the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ gained over 13%.

A strategy like defensive alpha could be attractive to pension funds whose portfolios are full of bets on stocks and who haven’t found the best protection against market downturns, a hedge fund investor told Reuters.

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