Thomson Investment News – Focus Capital, the emerging markets multi-manager, on Monday opened investment to a hedge fund that invests in multiple emerging market asset classes.
The Focus Capital Emerging World Fund seeks absolute returns from emerging markets irrespective of market conditions, diversifying risk by using a fund of funds approach to invest in emerging market equity, bond, and hedge fund strategies.
It achieved a gross return of 19.2 percent from inception in February 28, 2007 to March, 31 2008 while the CSFB/Tremont Emerging Market Hedge Fund Index returned 13.8 percent in the same period.
John Cleary, chief executive and chief investment officer of Focus Capital, said: ‘This performance was achieved by having investments in at least 45 emerging market countries. The underlying positions, in multiple asset classes, were managed by more than 100 portfolio managers and analysts. We aim to deliver returns similar to the best performing emerging asset class of the phase, with less volatility.’
At the end of April 2008, the fund was approximately 90 percent invested with around 50 percent in long short local currency strategies and 40 percent in global emerging debt strategies with the remaining 10 percent in cash strategies.
