Energy investment veteran Tim Guinness is shrugging off the market turmoil, which has led to a collapse in the price of commodities, with the launch of a private equity fund, led by two specialist hires from M&G Investments.

Guinness, the former manager of Investec's Global Energy fund, has brought in Sachin Oza and Stephen Williams, most recently sector-specialist analysts at M&G, to run a fund that will invest directly in oil and gas exploration companies - which is targeting an annualised return of 20% to 25% over five years.