Investors most positive on Global Macro and Global Emerging Markets Alternative UCITS Strategies

Geneva 18th January, 2012: ML Capital Asset Management, the investment manager and promoter of the MontLake UCITS platform, is delighted to present the 5th edition of the quarterly ML Alternative UCITS Barometer (ML Barometer).

The Barometer is designed to help identify and anticipate key trends in the demand for the major strategies within the Alternative UCITS sector.

ML Capital surveyed a diverse range of 50 active investors in Alternative Investments, who collectively manage over €80 billion and today invest upwards of €30  billion of those assets into Alternative UCITS. Questions are aimed at discovering their forthcoming strategy allocations and the same respondents are questioned each quarter, in order to track asset flows between UCITS strategies.

• Allocations to CTA’s and Global Macro strategies are once again the biggest winners of this quarter’s barometer with a strong bias toward Global Macro-Discretionary funds. With 54% of respondents looking to increase their exposure to Global Macro-Discretionary, this strategy is currently the most popular.

• There is also considerable demand this quarter for equity managers, with a preference for Global and US managers. Indeed all equity strategies have seen a rise in demand excluding Japanese and Latin American strategies.

• Global Emerging L/S is once again the preferred equity strategy this quarter with 52% of respondents looking to increase exposure. This is in sharp contrast with Latin American strategies, where it is noted that only 15% of investors were willing to increase their allocations.

• The biggest losers this month are European L/S and UK L/S strategies. However we have noted a stabilisation in the reduction of exposure to UK L/S and some respondents increasing their allocation for the first time in 3 quarters.

 

John Lowry, Co-Founder and Chairman of ML Capital commented; “Investors are starting 2012 with a positive view and recognize the benefits of using alternative strategies in a volatile environment. Once you drill down, you are seeing a markedly changing Alternative UCITS landscape evolving, as evidenced from the latest Barometer results with demand shifting to some of the classic hedge fund strategies, Global Macro and Managed Futures balanced with a renewed interest in Global Emerging Markets strategies.”

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About ML Capital

ML Capital is an independent and privately owned financial services group at the forefront of bringing high quality alternative investments to the mainstream. Utilising our collective industry experience and expansive network of contacts, we are dedicated to locating the very best boutique fund managers and working with them to introduce their skills to the rapidly growing market for quality onshore regulated investment products.

ML Capital has launched the Montlake UCITS platform, which has become the fastest growing UCITS platform in the market which delivers a range of specialist boutique alternative managers to institutional and retail investors.

Our senior partners have many years of hedge fund experience in key areas incorporating manager due diligence, portfolio management, operations, risk management and distribution.  Through our diverse backgrounds, extensive experience and industry knowledge, our professionals have a proven track record in delivering investment products and solutions which perform to the highest standards.

ML Capital is headquartered within the European Union in Malta and has offices in London and Geneva.

 

About The MontLake UCITS Platform

The MontLake UCITS Platform, domiciled in Ireland and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland provides investment managers with a turnkey solution for launching a UCITS fund under its umbrella structure. Typical time to market is 10 weeks, or less, with the platform offering immediate access to a wide range of investors through ML Capital’s distribution network.

Funds placed on the platform by ML Capital will benefit from top-tier service providers including Citi for custody, administration and trustee services, KPMG for audit, and Bridge Consulting for oversight and directorships. ML Capital has also ensured that managers utilising the MontLake UCITS Platform will have unfettered access to a network of the leading prime brokerage firms.

For more information on ML Capital please visit our website www.mlcapital.com  or our platform website www.montlakeucits.com.