Man Group Launches Retail Hedge Fund In The US

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore, London

14 August 2002

The UK's Man Group, the world's largest hedge fund manager, has just registered a hedge fund product aimed at retail investors (well, almost) through its US affiliate, Glenwood Capital Investments.

Man-Glenwood Lexington LLC, a fund-of-funds hedge fund, will offer $100 million in units, with a minimum $25,000 initial investment, according to the filing. Units will be distributed through Man Investment Products, and qualified investors will need a net worth of $1 million, or an income in excess of $200,000, or joint income with a person's spouse of $300,000 in each of the last two years.

Units may also be acquired by investors who have accounts managed by registered investment advisors where "the advisor is subscribing for units in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of the account," the registration said.

Investments of less than $100,000 are subject to a 3% fee, or sales load, while investments of between $100,000 and $500,000 are subject to a 2% load. An investment of $500,000 or more will carry a 1% load.

Glenwood, with $4.7bn under management, has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Man Group since 2000. After acquiring Swiss RMF Group recently, Man Group PLC has about $20 billion in assets under management.

Man Group Chief Executive Stanley Fink said: 'The Man Group method isn't for high-rollers who want 30 per cent per annum returns. One-off punts aren't our style.' He rejects the idea that hedge funds cause volatility in the markets, saying that they control a mere 2 per cent of market assets and don't directly invest in shares.

Man Group dates its origins back to 1783, when James Man set up a sugar trading business. It became one of the biggest commodity traders, and started a hedge fund to offset its commodity risks.

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