A survey commissioned by Hamburg-based hedge fund manager, Aquila Capital, and conducted by Schleus Marktforschung, has found a very clear disconnect in attitudes towards alternative investments between those already investing and those who have so far resisted. Nearly three quarters of German institutional investors who participated said they would continue to shy away from alternative assets. In stark contrast, 70 per cent of those already invested said they actually intended to increase their allocations within the year. Quite clearly, alternatives are either loved or loathed. Perhaps the most interesting insight to take from the survey is that 59 per cent consider UCITS to be a key criterion before making any decision to commit capital to absolute return funds, suggesting that traditional hedgies are still not as widely embraced in Germany as other parts of Europe. Even though UCITS is designed more to protect private investors rather institutional ones, their popularity in Germany is explained to some extent by the survey, with 63 per cent saying they avoided alternatives on the basis of transparency and liquidity; both of which UCITS firmly addresses. Commenting on this upward trend in absolute return strategies, Aquila Capital CEO, Roman Rosslenbroich (pictured), said: “Catering to this demand, we launched the AC Statistical Value Market Neutral fund (SVMN) in early 2008 as one of the first UCITS III absolute return funds. Just like a proof-of-concept, SVMN has seen significant growth and is now over EUR500 million in size.”