Retail investors will soon be able to bet on the racy world of equity volatility – usually the preserve of hedge funds and proprietary trading desks at investment banks – after the launch of a new fund.

Dresdner Kleinwort, the German investment bank, and Kleinwort Benson, the private bank, are launching two open-ended investment companies in the UK that aim to profit from the difference between implied and realised volatility on the S&P 500 index.