LONDON (Reuters) Gartmore head of global emerging markets Chris Palmer is net short Indian stocks and is concerned about government interference in private enterprise and a lack of financing for growing firms, he told Reuters.

Palmer, who manages a range of portfolios including the $1 billion (513 million pounds) Gartmore Sicav Emerging Markets fund, said his long-only funds have been cutting back exposure to India, while his hedge funds are net short.

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Tags: 100-million, controversial-areas, federal-reserve, pension-schemes, periods, soft-commodities

LONDON (Reuters) – Political uncertainty, occasional bomb blasts and border militant insurgency do not stop Pakistan being a good investment destination, one of the first funds to target the country says, comparing the economy to a smaller India.

The Melchior Selected Trust Pakistan Opportunities Fund, launching this month and aimed at ultimately reaching some $200 million in Pakistani equities, says the country has been poorly portrayed and its economic fundamentals remain appealing.

"We believe Pakistan has been treated unfairly by the international media," David Graham, partner of fund manager Dalton Strategic Partnership.

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Tags: minority-shareholder, pariah, periods, soft-commodities

LONDON (Reuters) – Polling and research group YouGov said on Monday it is aiming to raise up to $50 million (25 million pounds) for the launch of a hedge fund that will use polling data to highlight lucrative investment strategies.

The YouGov Alpha fund, which will be managed by investment boutique Four Capital, aims to gain an investment edge through YouGov’s research, which it believes can highlight areas where the stock market is being too optimistic or pessimistic, for example in retail sales.

"We’re looking to use it where the signals we get from the YouGov research are almost diametrically opposed to signals in the marketplace," said Four Capital fund manager Chris Rodgers, previously head of HSBC Halbis Partners’ UK Equity team and a senior fund manager at Schroders.

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Tags: blue-jays, extensive-network, government-regulators, investment-partners, long-time, private-research, sers, soft-commodities