Europe – Alix Capital, the Geneva-based provider of the UCITS Alternatives Index family of indices, has announced the winners of its inaugural UCITS Alternative Index (UAI) Awards. The awards, which will be held annually, honor the UCITS hedge funds that have returned the best performance over one and three year periods.

The UAI Awards cover 13 categories with two awards announced per category. The winners have been selected by a committee led by Louis Zanolin, CEO of Alix Capital, which oversees the award methodology.

The 2012 UAI Awards winners are as follows:

[1] There was no winner for the Best performing Commodities UCITS Hedge Funds three year award as there were fewer than ten funds meeting the criteria for that time period.

Louis Zanolin, CEO of Alix Capital, says: “As our latest quarterly UCITS Alternative Industry report shows, the UCITS hedge funds space continues to grow and evolve, with assets now totaling over EUR 140 billion, and we felt it was time to recognise the best performing funds in the alternative UCITS industry. UCITS hedge funds are increasingly becoming more and more attractive for investors, especially as they look for alternatives to offshore funds and the range of onshore options increases. We expect to see this recent growth trend persist as the industry adapts to new regulation and investment opportunities resulting from the changing economic landscape, which is constantly being reshaped.

“I would like to congratulate all the winners of the inaugural UCITS Alternative Index (UAI) Awards. Their performance has set them apart as the best performing funds and we wanted to acknowledge their achievements, not only looking at the past year, but also emphasising their performance over the longer term. I am confident that the UAI Awards will become an established industry award and a valid recognition of the best performing funds in the alternative UCITS industry.”