Winton Capital, one of the world's biggest hedge fund firms, has developed a new model of its flagship fund, hoping its greater allocation to equities and risk will produce better returns in a sector struggling to make money, according to a report by Reuters.

The move by Winton - a computer-driven trader set up in 1997 by multi-millionaire David Harding, the co-founder of Man Group's flagship AHL fund - could affect tens of billions of dollars held by pension funds and other investors in its main Futures fund.