UCITS investors seeking Event Driven strategies

Geneva 18^th July, 2011: In its latest survey on the growing market for Alternative UCITS, ML Capital observed Merger Arbitrage as the highest demanded strategy by the spectrum of Alternative UCITS investors, with 79 percent of all respondents planning to increase or maintain their exposure in the coming quarter.

ML Capital surveyed a diverse range of active Alternative UCITS investors, who collectively manage €50 billion and today invest upwards of €10 billion into Alternative UCITS products. Questions are aimed at discovering their forthcoming strategy allocations and are asked each quarter to the same respondents, in order to track asset flows between UCITS strategies.

 Key highlights this quarter are as follows:

§  Merger Arbitrage strategies are likely to see significant inflows with 49% of respondents looking to allocate more to the asset class.

§  Big spike in demand for Market Neutral strategies, with one third of investors wanting to increase their allocations.

§  Drop in demand for most Equity Hedge strategies with the most dramatically affected being European and Global.

§  US long/short funds fare best of all Equities strategies, with almost 40% of respondents planning to raise their investments.

§  Japan is still struggling to attract attention with a lowly 7% of respondents planning to increase their allocations, the lowest level of any strategy in this quarters Barometer.

Commenting on the latest survey, John Lowry, Co-Founder and Chairman of ML Capital: “The most significant trend in this quarters Barometer appears to be a widening out of interest across several strategies with more technical funds like Merger Arbitrage and Market Neutral now taking prominence, which may be a sign that the Alternative UCITS space is now beginning to mature.”

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About ML Capital

Incorporated in Malta and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, ML Capital is an independent and privately-owned financial services group specialising in advising on and delivering alternative investment solutions and strategies for the investment industry. ML Capital provides a truly global service for its clients from its headquarters in in Malta and operations centres in London, Geneva and Dublin.

ML Capital prides itself on delivering exceptional client service premised on a detailed understanding of the needs of its clients matched with a proven track record in providing sound investment advice.

Our senior partners have a combined experience of over 70 years in the investment-management industry in key areas incorporating manager due diligence, portfolio management, operations and risk management.

 

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 websitewww.montlakeucits.com.

Please download it here: www.montlakeucits.com/barometer

 

 

Media contact:

ML Capital Asset Management

Name: James Hanlon

Phone:  +41 22 318 56 70

Email:    James@mlcapital.com