RMF has commenced sponsorship of a US long/short equity fund managed by Derchin Management Inc.

A substantial sum has been injected through RMF's Hedge Fund Ventures (HFV) new manager seeding programme into Derchin Capital Master Fund, LP to aid the fund in reaching its desired critical mass and business structure.

Derchin applies a fundamental, bottom-up stock selection process to build up a long/short US equity portfolio. The fund focuses on highly liquid US stocks from a wide range of industries (except financial services, healthcare and telecom).

The principal of Derchin Management Inc., Michael W. Derchin, was a managing director of Tiger Management, heading Tiger's global transportation, travel, leisure and aerospace sector team. Previous employers included Natwest Securities, Drexel Burnham Lambert, The First Boston Corp., Oppenheimer & Co., American Airlines and Pan American World Airways.

Claude Porret, head of Hedge Fund Ventures at RMF, said: "We are thrilled to have been able to reach an agreement with Michael W. Derchin as we regard him as one of the top US equity analysts and stock pickers. Derchin is putting in place a very sound business set-up to allow for growth and permit the portfolio manager and analysts to fully concentrate on the investment side. Their proven track record and ability to attract other sophisticated investors made the deal very compelling for RMF. This transaction required creativity and is a reflection of the adaptability of our seeding model".

Derchin Offshore Fund Ltd. is the ninth fund sponsored by RMF's Hedge Fund Ventures programme, the others being:

• Westbury European Hedge Fund Ltd., a European equity market neutral fund
• Brookville Capital L.P., a US distressed and special situations fund
• Catalina Capital Ltd., a European relative value fund
• Arlington Hill Debt Strategies, a US global macro fund
• Drake Global Opportunities Fund, a US relative value and global macro fund
• Coromandel Trend Fund, a systematic CTA fund
• Stone Harbor Advisors, a Japanese event-driven fund
• Pine Tree Fund, a Korean long/short equity fund.

RMF is a leading provider of alternative investment solutions in Europe, specialising in hedge funds, leveraged finance and convertible bonds. RMF is headquartered in Pfäffikon/SZ, Switzerland, and also has offices in London, New York and the Bahamas. RMF currently manages over USD 13 billion of assets, with approximately USD 10 billion invested in fund of hedge fund products. RMF is part of Man Investments, the asset management division of Man Group plc, a FTSE 100 company.

copyright hedgeweek 2003