Fund-Technology.com

Guernsey Hurdle Fund posts strong results

Posted: 18 March 2008

A Guernsey fund of funds has delivered positive performances in every month of its first full calendar year of trading despite significant market turbulence during the second six months of 2007.

The Hurdle Fund is managed by Guernsey-based Channel Islands Alternatives (CIA) and takes its name from the fact that the investment manager only charges fees if the annualised returns are in excess of 4% a year.

In 2007 the fund delivered an estimated return of 11.89% on the year.

The fund focuses on generating absolute returns by controlling risk through manager diversification and avoiding a high correlation with global equity markets.

"Given the difficult trading conditions in the second half of 2007 it was quite an achievement to post such results. Generating this very high quality risk adjusted return reflects our objective approach to fund management," said CIA's Director Nick England.

"Many managers often have higher correlations to the equity markets than they think and this serves to undermine the absolute return credentials of their fund of funds. As an example, both August and November last year were very difficult markets for equities and hedge funds in general whereas the monthly returns for The Hurdle Fund classes were all positive."

Guernsey based service providers to the fund include administrators Trident Trust, Butterfield Bank as custodians and auditors Deloitte.

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of GuernseyFinance - the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, added: "It is very positive to see that managers setting up in Guernsey are supported by the broad range of professional services that are resident on the Island. What is even more important is the fact that greater numbers of high quality managers are setting up in Guernsey and delivering high quality returns such as those achieved by The Hurdle Fund."

Back to news