Cayman Islands Current Financial Position, Not Bankrupt

In a statement outlining the Cayman Islands financial position, the Hon. McKeeva Bush, Leader of Government Business/Premier Designate issued a statement regarding recent media coverage suggesting that the Cayman Islands is bankrupt, "we can confirm that these accusations are incorrect," she said.

Although Cayman’s two main industries, tourism and financial services, are significantly affected, "we are confident that the strength and resilience which has contributed to Cayman’s significant growth over the past 40 years will continue to serve the country well."

The Government’s efforts include the cutting of Government expenditure, customs duties, licence fees, and a number of other indirect taxes.

The government has also implemented an aggressive inward investment programme through private sector partnerships which will result in a number of new infrastructure projects and other developments. These will result in the region of $3 billion of inward investment in the short to medium term.

"In three weeks time we will be presenting our Budget which will continue to maintain Cayman’s sound financial stability. The Cayman Islands is well placed to take advantage of the global economic recovery and we are committed to continuing the success of our indirect tax system which has served the country so well over its history." McKeeva Bush concluded.

Credit Suisse's AIR Shows Positive Month for Hedge Funds

Long/Short Equity hedge funds returned positive performance in August mainly as a result of the continued uptrend in equity markets, according to Jordan Drachman, Head of Research for Alternative Beta Strategies at Credit Suisse.

"Following a strong rally in July, equity markets continued their upward trend in August, reaching highs not achieved since October 2008." Dr. Drachman noted, "Long/Short Equity hedge fund managers continued to increase their overall net exposures in order to benefit from market gains. Despite brief corrections due to a mid-month weak consumer sentiment report, managers were able to finish up for the month. The Credit Suisse Long/Short Equity Replication Index (“AIR Long/Short Equity Index”) was up 1.55% (net) for the month, while the Credit Suisse Global Macro Replication Index (“AIR Global Macro Index”) finished up 0.08% (net) over the same period."

AIR Indices seek to replicate the performance of major hedge fund strategies and enable investors to gain liquid, transparent insight into the Global Macro and Long/Short Equity sectors of the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index. The AIR platform also offers inverse indices that seek to approximate short exposure to the aggregate returns of the universe of Long/Short Equity and Global Macro hedge fund managers.

Performances for the AIR Global Macro and Long/Short Equity Indices are calculated daily and shown net of a 1.15% per annum calculation fee.