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14 May 2007

Man Investments Launches Bayswater Macro Program

Man Investments, one of the world’s largest hedge fund providers, announced a new capital guaranteed product in its Man AP family.

Man AP Spectrum Ltd combines for the first time the proven performance of the AHL Institutional Program with a significant allocation to Bayswater, a San Francisco-based quantitative global macro manager. It also allocates capital to four Man Global Strategies style hedge fund portfolios to provide added opportunities for profit and diversification.

The Bayswater Macro Program achieved annualized returns of 14.4% between 1 August 2004 and 28 February 2007 while the AHL Institutional Program generated annualized returns of 17.1% in the time frame 17 October 1995 to 28 February 2007.

"We are pleased to offer investors access to Bayswater as a core component of a structured investment product for the first time", said John Morrison, Chief Executive of Man Investments, "the complementary nature of AHL and Bayswater will add a new dimension to the traditional Man AP portfolio".

Both AHL and Bayswater are built on the philosophy that financial markets are inefficient and can be exploited by applying systematic and non-discretionary trading models. The difference is that Bayswater takes a longer term global macro approach while AHL aims to capture short and medium term trends on a wide range of global markets. The mix of the two managers in a portfolio is attractive since they are complementary due to the low correlation (0.28 for the period 1 August 2004 to 28 February 2007) and have the potential to capture profits at different points in a market cycle in a wide range of markets.

Man AP Spectrum Ltd is offered in a choice of USD and EUR bonds, each targeting mean annualized returns of 13-16% (USD bonds) and 11-14% (EUR bonds) for a mean annualized volatility of about 9-11% for both bond classes. Investors will also benefit from a capital guarantee provided by Merrill Lynch International Bank Limited, and a profit lock-in feature.

Hedge Funds See Carbon Opportunities

Rapidly developing carbon trading markets are creating a range of promising opportunities for hedge funds to participate in this new sector, says a report from Man Investments, the world’s largest provider of hedge fund investments.

Carbon markets, already trading significantly, have sprung up as the result of measures taken to reduce carbon emissions, such as the sale of carbon credits. The European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme last year saw financial volumes on exchanges and through brokers totalling EUR 14.6 billion, about three times the total for the previous year.

Thomas Della Casa, Head of Research for Man Investments and one of the authors of the report, says that, based on these opportunities, hedge funds have introduced, or are working on, new investment strategies, including: trading emissions, financing carbon projects, trading electric power, cross-commodity trading, long/short listed equity and private equity.

The report, An Update on the Carbon Market, is published in Man Investments’ April Quarterly Review, which examines developments and trends in the hedge fund industry. It observes that putting a value on emissions has now become mainstream financial thinking.

"Carbon trading is emerging as one of the most significant new sectors for hedge funds and we can expect continued rapid growth, particularly if the US and China in due course join in and establish their own carbon markets, as is widely anticipated," Della Casa said.

Man Investments, the Asset Management division of Man Group plc, is a global leader in the fast-growing alternative investments industry. It manages over $61 billion and employs more than 1,300 people worldwide. Man Investments has key centers in London and Pfäffikon (Switzerland), and offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Montevideo, Nassau, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.