BluMont Capital Inc. Calls Special Meeting - IAM Amalgamation & Reposition of Board
January 23th, 2007
BluMont Strategic Partners Hedge Fund Unitholders Approve Proposed Merger
December 29th, 2006
BluMont Capital Inc. Responds to Announcement by Integrated Asset Management Corp.
December 20th, 2006
BluMont Man Alternative Yield Fund Announces Distribution
November 30th, 2006
Big Apple May Bite Into Hedge Funds

Christine Williamson
Pension & Investments
January 2007

New York’s city’s five pension systems may soon delve into hedge funds and other alternative asset strategies. As of September 30, 2006, New York City’s defined benefits plan is estimated at US$100 billion in assets. If one or more of the city’s pension funds decide to consider alternative investing, and consider making a typical allocation of two to five percent, that could mean a US $45 billion investment.

“Hedge fund managers in Manhattan have been salivating for years over the possibility of getting even a tiny bite of the Big Apple’s public pension fund assets.1

Employees from New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. held hedge fund education workshops for many pension funds including the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System of the City of New York.

The pension boards will spend the next month conducting further research on alternative investments before going to their response boards and making a final decision

Pension firms having hedge fund allocations are common in other parts of the Unites States, such as the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (US$30.4 billion in assets), for example, has more than $9 billion in hedge funds and the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois. Springfield, approved a new hedge fund target of nearly US$1 billion, or 2.5% of plan assets.


1 Christine Williamson, Pension & Investments

Treynor ratio
:  

The Treynor ratio calculates the excess return of a portfolio for every unit of market risk (beta). This differs from the Sharpe ratio because it focuses on beta, rather than standard deviation. In other words, the Treynor ratio is a risk-adjusted measure of return based on systematic risk.
Issue 30 - February 13, 2007

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  Canadian Opportunities Fund
160.40  
0.15 0.15
  Hirsch Long/Short Fund
168.95  
1.33 1.33
  Hirsch Performance Fund
25.86  
1.85 1.85
  BluMont Core Hedge Fund
105.58  
0.68 0.68
  Man-IP 220 S1 Notes*
13.14  
3.70 3.68
  Man-IP 220 S2 Notes*
12.53  
3.68 3.49
  Man-IP 220 S3 Notes*
9.38  
3.46 -6.16
  Man-IP 220 S4 Notes*
9.93  
0.54 -0.73
  Man Multi-Strategy, S1*
11.57  
2.90 9.53
  Man Multi-Strategy, SA*
11.82  
2.91 9.33
  Man Multi-Strategy, S2*
11.46  
2.89 9.45
  Man Multi-Strategy, S3*
12.34  
2.92 8.98
  Man Multi-Strategy, S4*
11.46  
2.74 8.48
  Man Multi-Strategy, S5*
11.15  
2.51 6.84
  Man Alternative Yield Fund*
8.46  
2.59 -5.14
*As of December 31, 2006
Click to view full fund performance and pricing tables.
At the end of 2006, there were approximately 12,0001 hedge funds operating globally with more than US$1.5 Trillion 1 in assets under management. With the S&P/TSX and the S&P 500 returning 17.26% and 13.62% respectively in 2006, most hedge fund strategies underperformed relative to these benchmark indices according to HFRI. However, investors need not be disappointed. Hedge fund performance should be judged over a full market cycle; and second; hedge funds are more interested in generating positive returns in a good or bad market and are not looking to replicate the performance of the benchmark index.

Several high profile hedge fund closures in recent years have resulted in increasing scrutiny from regulators, most notably the September 2006 blowup of the multi-billion dollar hedge fund, Amaranth. In 2006, the US Securities and Exchange Commission introduced regulations whereby hedge fund managers are required to register as investment advisors, and must meet certain reporting and disclosure requirements. In the early part of 2007 one of their Canadian counterparts, the Ontario Securities Commission, announced similar registration requirements for hedge fund companies. From the perspective of hedge fund managers, if they were required to make their trading positions public, they would essentially be giving away their edge, their investment strategy, and their primary source of return generation. Securities commissions in both countries are continuing to examine the issue of determining the appropriate level of disclosure and form of regulation of hedge funds in order to protect investors.


1 Jacob Schmidt, Schmidt Research Partners
The Deutsche Bank Global Markets division provides financing, investing, and hedging solutions to corporate, government, and institutional clients, offering both debt and equity products. The Global Markets division has a presence in 45 different countries and is consistently recognized as a market leader across different sectors and products. The division has won numerous awards in the past few years from prominent financial publications in Europe, such as Euromoney and Credit Magazine.

Within Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets division, the Global Equity arm is, in and of itself, a major player in the financial services sector. Deutsche Bank has maintained a leading position in Australia and South Africa as a top equity house and is still growing in Japan, and the emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Deutsche Bank having recently expanded its US platform and aims to leverage its advantages in Europe to strengthen its position in the US market. Through its expansive global presence in the equities markets, Deutsche Bank is able to offer a greater variety of equity-linked investment strategies with varying complexity to its clients.