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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Gulfmena Investments Limited has launched the first directional absolute return hedge fund focusing specifically on the MENA equity markets to be managed by a GCC based and DFSA regulated asset management business.
The asset manager of the fund, Gulfmena Alternative Investments Limited, was granted a license by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate as a DIFC asset management company in August 2009 and is headed by CEO and Fund Manager, Haissam Arabi. Arabi is one of the region’s most respected and prominent fund managers having managed SHUAA Capital’s Arab Gateway Fund from March 2001 to June 2008 and headed its asset management division.
“Today, investor appetite is returning gradually as we can see from recent markets performance, but while everyone would like to take advantage of the recovery story and existing price distortions in the short term, investors remain somewhat sceptical over long term prospects. Therefore risk aversion and liquidity remain high priorities when making investment decisions at least until risk appetite returns and when investors will demand higher risk and relative value type products. This is why a debut flagship fund today should be a conservative hedge fund product, which is absolute return, unconstrained, multi faceted that is designed for both today and tomorrow’s MENA markets. We believe it is the ideal product at the ideal time with the ideal strategy.” commented Haissam Arabi, CEO and fund manager of Gulfmena Alternative Investments Limited.
The fund will adhere to stringent risk management and portfolio construction parameters such as stops and rolling stops in addition to an overlay hedge strategy that is designed to minimise volatility aiming at preserving investment capital during all market conditions. This is particularly important to professional investors during the early days of a market recovery when visibility is still not clear and there remains little appetite for risk. The fund will target annual returns in excess of 15% while it aims not to exceed an annual volatility of 7%. The fund will also observe strict liquidity criteria and capacity over-ride rules which are built into the strategy to ensure high liquidity levels that allow it to be open-ended and to offer weekly liquidity, unique to most hedge funds.
The fund’s operator and sponsor is Gulfmena Investments Limited (Cayman Islands). The Gulfmena Arab Opportunities Fund Limited will be registered as a regulated mutual fund with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and is managed by Gulfmena Alternative Investments Limited, a DIFC based MENA specialist asset management company that is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – One of Hong Kong’s largest independent financial institutions, Sun Hung Kai Financial, is teaming up with hedge fund Paulson & Co, launching a distressed asset investment fund, according to a Reuters report.
John Paulson will act as the new $100 million offshore fund’s investment manager. The fund will only be open to professional investors and will feed into Paulson’s existing “recovery fund”, which invests in distressed financial assets, according to the report.
With approximately $29 billion in assets under management Paulson hedge fund has offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. Sun Hung Kai has over HK$50 billion ($6.45 billion) in assets under management, Reuters said, together, the funds plan to invest globally, but are focused mainly on the United States.
Rizal Wijono, Managing Director at SHK Fund Management Limited, the Sun Hung Kai’s asset management business said, “There is a lot of turmoil in the U.S., which is Paulson’s home market. They’ve been looking at a approximately 100 financial institutions who they think are going to be the survivors and the failures,” he said, “To date, they’re looking into Asia, but they haven’t identified potential positions yet. If you’re looking for maximum appreciation, the obvious place is the developed world.”
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Globe and Mail – On monday, when North American markets cratered, was not the most auspicious day to launch a closed-end fund of hedge funds, but Star Hedge Managers Corp. has been quietly trading since then.
This fund invests in the hedge funds or portfolios run by Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management Inc., Rohit Sehgal of Dynamic Mutual Funds Ltd. and Normand Lamarche of Front Street Capital.
Star Hedge Managers, which closed down 39 cents yesterday at $9.35 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raised $75-million through an initial public offering of $10 a unit. It had targeted raising $500-million.
"I’m surprised" that it did raise $75-million given the tough market environment, said Phil Schmitt, chairman of the Canadian unit of the Alternative Investment Management Association. "There’s still a market for quality managers."
Zurich – Harcourt Investment Consulting AG (Harcourt) is pleased to announce the launch of Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds dedicated to harnessing the unique opportunities presented by hedge funds focussed on emerging markets. Through a well diversified portfolio of managers and strategies, the fund affords efficient exposure to emerging markets globally.
The growth outlook for emerging markets countries remains strong; the well publicized decoupling story is real. Consequently, local hedge funds are able to generate returns which are largely decorrelated to other regions. At the same time, the inefficiencies which characterize emerging markets generate ample opportunities for hedge funds to create superior risk adjusted returns.
Harcourt has been actively investing in emerging markets for 10 years. The launch of the new fund is a further step in the evolution of Harcourt’s product offering. Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets joins a range of funds focussed on specific geographies, which today comprises Belmont Asia Ltd, Belmont Europe Ltd and Belmont Latin America Ltd.
Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets seeks to derive attractive returns and reduce risk by investing in multiple strategies associated with emerging markets. With its broad diversification between asset classes, emerging markets regions and hedge fund strategies, Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets aims for an overall low risk profile, and to generate far less volatility than is common with long only emerging market investments. Market risk as well as other inherent risk factors, such as liquidity risk, are minimized through careful selection of high quality managers. The fund’s targeted annualized return of Libor + 400 bps net of fees, with 6% annualized volatility. Currently, there are 29 hedge funds in the portfolio.
The fund was launched on 01 June 2008.
For further information please contact: Margaret Gouthier, Marketing, gouthier@harcourt.ch.
About Harcourt:
Harcourt AG is a global leading provider of alternative investment solutions for institutional investors. Founded in 1997, the company is headquartered in Zurich with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Madrid, Geneva and Cayman Islands. Harcourt is majority owned by strategic partner Vontobel Group. The company manages USD 5.5bn and employs a staff of 90 professionals. Harcourt is exclusively focused on alternative investments and has an excellent track record of superior risk adjusted returns. For further information, please visit: www.harcourt.ch
