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30 Apr 2007

Sal. Oppenheim To Launch Spin-Off Hedge Fund

Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie, one of Europe's largest private banks is moving towards alternative investments and hedge funds. Oppenheim said it wants to spin off a hedge fund from its proprietary trading book. The bank will seed the hedge fund with its own cash but expects to raise as much as €500 million ($680 million).

Oppenheim already has launched the Figaro Currency Fund, a Dublin domiciled hedge fund, as another example of success. It combines the bank's currency expertise with a modern absolute-return approach. The fund aims to achieve stable above-average returns (7% - 10% p.a.) with low correlation to stocks and bonds. The Investment process of the hedge fund is a disciplined analytical approach combining macro-economic analysis, geopolitical trends, technical indicators and general market sentiment towards investing in currencies.

Headquartered in the bank's offices in Zurich, the new hedge fund will will begin trading in the third quarter, taking long and short positions in small to mid size companies, investing almost two-thirds of the book in firms from German-speaking countries, it said. The rest will be invested primarily in other Western European countries.

Oppenheim today is one of Europe‘s leading private banks. Since the company‘s founding in 1789, the Cologne private bankers have been open to new developments in industry, business, and new financial models.

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