Global Umbrella Europe Hedge outperforms benchmark by over 100%

The Global Umbrella Europe Hedge fund has returned approximately 6.6% YTD 2009, which outperformed its respective benchmarks. The fund outperformed the Eurekahedge Europe Multi strategy fund of funds index (2.78%) which represents the fund of funds in Europe by over 100% and the MSCI Europe index (4.3%) which is a Europe focused equity index by over 50%.

During 2008, when the European capital markets were exposed to high systemic risks, the fund followed a conservative approach by reducing its beta exposure. By the beginning of 2009 when systemic risks were reduced, the fund shifted to a more prudent strategic approach by investing into hedge fund strategies that can generate alpha while maintaining low volatility. The Fund is currently invested with a diversified pool of managers who pursue strategies such as Equity Long/Short, Global Macro, Event Driven, CTAs and Multi Strategy that have enabled the fund to maximize its risk return profile in the current year.

Mr. Shailesh Dash, Managing Partner at Global Capital Management, stated that this fund has always followed an investment philosophy that strives to enhance alpha generation while stressing on capital preservation.

Mr. Dash added, "The Hedge Funds team at Global Capital Management provides prudent investors looking at Hedge Funds for diversification a wide range of products that can meet any investor need within this asset class. This includes regional, international and strategy focused funds."

Mr. Dash also stated that the turbulent period witnessed during the last one and half years highlights the importance of stressing on the fundamentals of investing such as diversification.

He added, "Hedge funds with their returns uncorrelated to market are becoming all the more important an asset class of choice for sophisticated investors. Although the hedge fund industry has decreased in size, the overall decline in value of assets in the hedge fund space is lower than other parts of the capital markets. Hence, hedge funds are now emerging with a larger share of investments than it had before. Moreover, new studies have shown that the superior performance of Hedge Funds over traditional long only funds during the crisis period has resulted in attracting several new investors to this space."

Mr. Joseph Joseph, Partner and head of Hedge Funds & Funds of Funds department at Global Capital Management, opines that identifying the right hedge fund manager and investing in the most appropriate strategy needs high level of skill. Joseph believes the lack of transparency exhibited by several international managers would increase the importance of local managers among the regional investors.

He said, "The Hedge Fund Group at Global Capital Management, which has an extensive track record and a pool of highly skilled professionals, is well positioned to address the challenges of this environment and to provide solutions that would meet the risk return objectives of all its clients."

Joseph also indicated that some of the Global hedge funds distributed special dividends during this period when liquidity demands were high for many investors.

Mr. Joseph also stated that the Hedge Funds team at Global Capital Management currently maintains a positive outlook on the European region.

"Given the current valuations and significantly less capital in the system the opportunities are extremely high. The fund is well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities by maintaining exposure to some of the best managers in their respective areas," he added.

Mr. Dash concluded by saying that the Hedge Funds team at Global Capital Management will continue its pursuit to bring valuable products and solutions to its clients at this time of need. Global Umbrella Europe Hedge Fund will continue to achieve capital growth while stressing on minimizing downside risk to provide investors the opportunity to benefit from the extensive market dislocations currently prevalent across the equity, fixed income and credit markets in the European region.