Hedge Fund Gartmore Launches Absolute Return Fund

Hedge Fund manager Gartmore Investment Management Limited is launching the Gartmore European Absolute Return Fund, to be co-managed by Roger Guy and Guillaume Rambourg, subject to regulatory approval.

The new fund will be a UCITS III limited issue vehicle with capacity set at £200 million, the fund's three week offer period starts on 6th October before its launch on 31st October 2008.

The Gartmore European Absolute Return Fund, the first in a series of absolute return offerings planned by Gartmore, will seek to deliver positive absolute returns over the long-term in all market conditions by taking long and short positions in equities and derivatives. It will be managed using a similar strategy to Gartmore's flagship European equity long/short hedge fund - the Gartmore AlphaGen Capella Fund.

Commenting on the proposed launch, Richard Pursglove, Head of UK Retail at Gartmore, said: "Over the last decade we have transformed our business into a specialist provider of long-only and alternative products. This latest development is an important strategic addition to our retail fund range, and has been driven by substantial client interest from discretionary asset managers, wealth managers and IFAs seeking uncorrelated, positive returns."

He concluded: "Gartmore's substantial experience in shorting, combined with it long established hedge fund infrastructure, will be attractive to investors looking for absolute returns."

Gartmore is a leading provider of long-only and alternative investment solutions and one of the pioneers of managing hedge funds on behalf of institutional investors. Since entering the hedge fund arena in 1999, Gartmore has built an $11billon** hedge fund business and is one of the largest hedge fund providers in Europe.

Venus Capital Launches Venus (India) Index Plus Fund

Venus Capital Management, Inc. has launched the Venus Index Plus Fund. The general objective of the Fund is to outperform the S&P CNX Nifty India Index without changing the weights in the Index.

Venus Capital, after conducting a detailed analysis of India-dedicated hedge funds, found that most India funds, both inside and outside of India, underperformed the S&P CNX Nifty India index on a risk-adjusted basis. They have high Beta with a low Sharpe ratio. This became even more evident this year when the Indian markets dropped approximately 40% and a typical India fund lost 40-55% in the first six months of the year. Venus has segregated Alpha from Beta and has products for investors seeking either. However, Venus feels that “2 and 20” fees should not be paid to obtain Beta and hence, have launched the flat fee Index fund.

The Index fund is engineered to track and outperform the benchmark Indian Index without changing the weights of the Index constituents. It will be available in unlevered, 1x, 2x levered and short versions with daily liquidity, enabling institutional investors to time the market and take advantage of their macro views and also use as a hedge against exposure to long biased India managers.

Venus Capital expects this product to outperform the S&P CNX Nifty India index since the S&P CNX Nifty India Index futures typically roll at a discount to fair value of the underlying S&P CNX Nifty India index on a monthly basis and the left over cash (as futures require only 25% margin) can be deployed in short-term instruments..

The fund offers beta exposure to one of the fastest growing economies, in a cost efficient manner compared to traditional mutual funds and hedge funds. “We do not believe investors should pay 2 and 20 fees for Beta” said Vik, CEO of Venus Capital Management, Inc. Venus Capital has been in business since 1994 and is the oldest India-focused hedge fund company. The founder and CEO, Vik Mehrotra, has over 20 years of investment experience and is assisted by over 20 analysts and traders.

Investors can request a private placement memorandum for the Venus (India) Index Plus Fund by visiting the manager's website. The fund is open to accredited and qualified investors only and the minimum initial investment amount is $1,000,000.

Venus Capital Management, Inc. was founded in 1994. The company was registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission in the United States as a Registered Investment Advisory company in 2000. From inception and until today, the firm manages wealth for several family offices and institutions with an emphasis on increased allocations to Asia in a risk averse manner. Over the years, the firm has evolved from solely a money management firm for wealthy families to a more specialized firm today focused on making investments in Asia. This investment focus enables us to leverage the strengths of our investment team and capitalize upon the growth potential of the global markets.