Certificates Based on Hedge Fund Indexes to Trade on Swiss Exchange

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)–Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Priv?e has teamed up with German-based Dresdner Bank and Hedge Fund Research Inc., Chicago, to introduce into the Swiss market a set of certificates linked to HFR investable hedge fund indexes.

These new instruments should be fully tradable beginning July 19, following their listing on the Swiss Exchange. If trading does develop, it would offer daily liquidity, a condition almost never found in direct hedge fund investments.

Covering a wide spectrum of hedge fund strategies–convertible arbitrage, distressed securities, equity hedge, equity market neutral, event driven, macro, merger arbitrage and relative value arbitrage–the certificates promise to provide a close, consistent proxy to each strategy.

Union Bancaire Priv?e is lead manager of this enterprise. Dresdner Bank AG will issue the certificates, Dresdner Bank Switzerland will be co-manager, and investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein will act as a market maker for trading the certificates.

Christophe Aletti from UBP commented in a statement that the range of certificates available means investors may choose their tactical asset allocation so as to achieve a customizable and flexible investment portfolio.

HFR investable hedge fund indexes were launched in 2003 and are expected to be used for products in other countries, as well. There are several other investable index providers, among them CSFB/Tremont,* MSCI and S&P. Hedge fund index products, which are a recent development, already have attracted about 1% of industry assets