Tremont To Pick Up On Growing European Brand Recognition

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore, London

07 October 2002

Responding to growing interest in hedge funds outside the US, and increasing recognition of the Tremont name, partly through the firm's widely-quoted hedge fund index, Tremont Advisers, Inc. announced on Friday that it is changing the name of two offshore funds.

From now on, the American Masters Market Neutral Fund Limited will be known as the Tremont Market Neutral Fund Limited and the American Masters Opportunity Fund Limited will be known as the Tremont Opportunity Fund Limited.

“The renaming of our offshore proprietary products allows us to take advantage of the recognition the Tremont name has achieved outside the United States over the past several years,” said Rupert Allan, Managing Director of Tremont TASS (Europe) Limited. “We expect to see strong growth in alternative assets from offshore investors in the months ahead.”

The Tremont Market Neutral Fund is a fund of funds that seeks to achieve long-term capital growth irrespective of stock market volatility or direction. The Tremont Opportunity Fund is a fund of funds that seeks superior risk and return levels with low volatility and low correlation to the traditional markets. Both funds have a minimum investment of $100,000 or 100,000 euros.

Tremont also announced that a sterling share class will be added for the Tremont Market Neutral Fund. According to Allan, the new share class is being created to reflect increased investor demand for this Fund.

Tremont Advisers, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oppenheimer Acquisition Corp., the parent corporation to OppenheimerFunds, Inc. Founded in 1960, OppenheimerFunds is one of America's most prominent mutual fund managers. As of June 30, 2002, the company and its subsidiaries managed approximately $125 billion in assets held in more than six million shareholder accounts.

The road to Europe from the US is becoming well-trodden by hedge fund managers in pursuit of the dramatic growth in hedge fund investment that has been taking place as European investors tire of negative experiences in the conventional equity markets. Just weeks ago, Invesco, part of Amvescap, the Anglo-American fund manager launched its first specifically-European hedge fund, based on an equity long-short strategy combined with investments in index and bond futures.

Hedge funds are barely in the black this year compared with their usual stellar returns; but still their performance stands up well against equity indexes, which have all fared more or less disastrously. Invesco is aiming for a 10% return from the new fund, which will be run by its structured products group in New York.

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