Matrix have expanded their range of open ended funds of hedge funds to five, with the launch of the Matrix Generator Fund.

The new fund of funds, which will invest in the Vega Diversified 2x Fund, opened for business on 16 May and provides an opportunity for UK retail investors to access the returns from Vega's range of hedge funds, which have previously only been available to institutional investors.

Over the period January 2002 to the end of March 2005, the Vega Diversified 2x Fund would have provided annualised returns of 23.05 per cent* against only 2.59 per cent* for the FTSE All Share Index and 5.71 per cent* for the 5-15 year Brit Govt Gilt index. Additionally the Fund has shown very little correlation to either the FTSE All Share Index (0.18 per cent) or the Gilt index (0.23 per cent).

According to Tremont, Vega are one of the best global macro players open to new investment. The firm was started in 1996 and has grown to be one of Europe's largest hedge fund managers with over USD 10 billion under management. Vega funds are held in three of Matrix's other funds of funds.

The Matrix Generator Fund will be available to UK private investors only through IFAs and has a GBP 10,000 minimum investment. The underlying Vega Diversified fund is priced in US dollars but will be hedged into sterling for investors in the Generator Fund. Dealing is monthly.

"The outlook for both UK equities and UK bonds is subdued with even the more optimistic commentators and fund managers suggesting that returns could be restricted to the single digit bracket this year," said Bridget Guerin, a director of Matrix Group. "We have launched this new fund to provide IFAs with a new type of investment that offers the prospect of higher returns than equities and bonds in this environment, and with a similar level of volatility to equities. The additional benefit of this fund is that its returns have shown very low correlation to equities and bonds, so by adding it to a conventional portfolio, it can diversify risk."