Financial Standard – Long/short hedge fund managers increased their net exposure to equity markets, allowing them to post positive returns last month, according to a replication index.

The Credit Suisse Long/Short Equity Replication Index, which replicates the performance of major hedge fund strategies, was up almost 2 per cent (net) in July.

At the same time, the Credit Suisse Global Macro Replication Index crept into positive territory by 3 basis points.

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Tags: basis-points, credit-suisse, global macro, hedge fund strategies, hedge-fund-managers, long short equity, replication, short hedge

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Bull Path Capital Management recently announced the conversion of one of its long-short hedge funds into a long-short equity mutual fund the ‘Bull Path Long Short Fund’ (BPFCX).

The newly launched mutual fund ranks #1 of 811 funds on total annualized returns in the Lipper Mid-Cap Universe for the 5 years ending March 31, 2009, may be a “perfect consideration as a core investment for many investors.” He believes the long-short category will increasingly capture investors’ attention because of its typically lower risk levels than long-only funds. BPFCX has also received a top Lipper Leader rating of 5 for capital preservation against all equity mutual funds (9,360 funds).

“Investors have been traumatized by the events of the past 18 months, including the sobering performance of many long-only, ‘buy and hold’ strategies, and wondering how and when they can reenter the market,” said Rob Kaimowitz, portfolio manager of the Fund and founder of Bull Path Capital Management. “We believe investors will be attracted to the performance characteristics of long-short funds which aim to capture the market’s upside while mitigating risk in a market sell-off.”

“Until recently, there have been few mutual funds focused on long-short, and we are one of the few tested strategies in the market today,” noted Kaimowitz. “We believe this strategy makes sense for both individual and institutional investors with a medium- to long-term view of the market.”

In addition, Kaimowitz says investors who may have previously considered long-short hedge funds should consider investing in this strategy through a mutual fund structure owing to such benefits as lower minimum investments, lower fees, full transparency and the assets being held in a trust bank.

“There has been increasing pressure on hedge funds to provide lower fees, greater liquidity and increased portfolio transparency,” noted Kaimowitz. “A mutual fund structure addresses these issues quite well.”

The Bull Path Long Short Fund adopts a strategy developed and run by Bull Path Capital Management since 2002. “One of the hallmarks of our strategy is our ability to reinvest our knowledge through our rigorous, concentrated fundamental analysis in establishing both long and short positions,” said Kaimowitz. “This ability serves us well as we seek to provide investors with consistent returns and high levels of alpha.”

The Bull Path Long Short Fund is available in A and C Class shares with a $1,000 minimum investment or a $500 minimum with participation in the automatic investment plan. The I share requires a minimum of $100,000 or a $50,000 minimum with participation in the automatic investment plan.

Alex Akesson

Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: alex@hedgeco.net

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Tags: capital preservation, capital-management, core investment, fund structure, hedge funds, institutional-investors, lipper leader, liquidity, long short equity, mid cap, minimum-investments, mutual funds, mutual-fund, palm-beach, performance characteristics, portfolio-manager, risk levels, short hedge, trust bank, west palm beach

Reuters – Hedge funds basing their investment strategy on sharia, or Islamic legal principles would face significant disadvantages compared with non-sharia hedge funds, some exponents of Islamic finance say.

Many strategies would be difficult to achieve because they would be too expensive to perform in a Sharia-compliant way, or because the tools themselves would be inappropriate under Sharia law. "You cannot have long-short hedge funds, because the idea of short selling, or selling something that you don’t own, runs contrary to the principles of Islamic finance," Fares Mourad, Head of Islamic finance at Swiss private bank Sarasin told Reuters. "I have not seen a credible structure that resolves this," Mourad said.

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Tags: bank sarasin, exponents, investment strategy, islamic finance, legal principles, private bank, reuters, sharia, short hedge

Reuters – Amiri Capital, the Islamic asset manager backed by investment firm Olivant, said on Monday it has teamed up with broker Newedge to launch the first Islamic fund of long/short hedge funds marketed in the Middle East.

The partnership with Newedge — itself a joint venture between Calyon and Societe Generale — allows Amiri to launch the fund, which was put on hold when original partner Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

Hedge funds are a relatively new concept in Islamic finance and a bone of contention, with some scholars rejecting them as speculative and others sanctioning them as a tool for diversification.

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Tags: amiri, asset-manager, bankruptcy protection, bone of contention, calyon, diversification, investment-firm, islamic finance, islamic fund, joint-venture, lehman brothers, middle-east, newedge, olivant, partnership, reuters, short hedge, societe generale