Barclays Global Investors launches two currency funds

The two new funds are BGI Currency Fund (US$) and BGI Currency Fund (Euro).

Mark Fitzgerald, Director, Alternative Investment Group at BGI said:  "BGI’s success in hedge fund strategies has made it a major player in the hedge fund world. BGI is currently ranked the 16th largest hedge fund manager in the world with in excess of $5 billion in hedge fund strategies globally."

He added: "The Currency Funds will enhance BGI’s product offering in the hedge fund space and will give investors the opportunity to generate absolute performance returns, building upon the successful track record that BGI has already established in currency management."

"The new Funds will be managed using the same active process used by BGI’s existing currency overlay portfolios, which have outperformed their benchmarks each year since inception (1999). Following the success of the existing overlay programme, it was a logical next step to place the strategy within a fund wrapper and make it accessible to investors," said Fitzgerald.

The funds will each initially invest in 11 currencies and have a target alpha of 8% net of fees, with a target risk of 10-12%. The annual management fee is 1% p.a. with a performance fee of 20% on returns above the benchmark. The minimum investment is Euro 250,000 or currency equivalent.

Background Note: BGI manages over $18 billion in currency strategies globally and transacted over $200 billion in FX last year.

BGI Currency Fund (US$) and BGI Currency Fund (Euro):
* The hurdle rate is US$ 3-month LIBID or Euro 3-month LIBID
* The funds will initially invest in 11 currencies: Euro, Sterling, Swiss Franc, Swedish Krone, Norwegian Krone, US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, NZ Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Japanese Yen
* Capacity will be US$1 billion
* The minimum investment is €250,000 or equivalent foreign currency
* The funds will  be domiciled in Dublin, authorised by the IFSRA and are Qualifying Investor Funds
* Investors may purchase or redeem on any business day
* Any statement relating to outperformance is a target only and Barclays Global Investors Limited does not provide a guarantee that it will be met.

Barclays Global Investors Limited (BGI) manages over US$5 billion of hedge fund strategies. BGI is one of the world’s largest investment management companies with assets of over $767 billion as at 30 June 2003. BGI was recently ranked 16th largest hedge fund manager based on assets under management, by Institutional Investor magazine (June 2003 issue).

BGI is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

copyright Hedgeweek 2003