HONG KONG (HEDGECO.NET) – Pioneer Investments is about to join the retail hedge fund market of Hong Kong, with the establishment of multi-manager and multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, Edmund Lacismade the disclosure in a released statement.Lacis is Pioneer�s Asia head of sales and distribution .The new fund according to Lacis is to limit volatility, while minimizing the number of draw downmonths. Such objective would help to ensure that investors experience a constant return.
Lacis said, “With the current low interest rate environment and with retail investors entering this asset class for the first time, we feel that a fund which offers about half the volatility of bonds and consistent equity-like returns will be attractive to retail investors�.
The new fund may be attaching a guarantee to investors according to Lacis, but details of such guarantee were not immediately provided. Lacis hopes that assets in the new fund would reach US$50-60 million within one year of the fund�s launching. Lacis disclosed that about $1 billion of guaranteed products would be maturing this year in Hong Kong. Some of such assets should be available to retail hedge funds Lacis hopes.
Lacis said Pioneer would be partnering with some unnamed commercial banks for communication and distribution of the new products, he added, “We’ve had discussion with commercial banks, which have not developed their own retail hedge fund capability, as well as with those which have their own funds but are operating an open platform.�
Retail hedge funds were legalized in Hong Kong in May 2002, and hedge funds operating in Hong Kong would still need to be approved by the Hong Kong regulatory authority. Pioneer has submitted its application for the establishment of its retail hedge funds to the SFC, according to Lacis.
Paul Oranika
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