Troika Dialog Launches Russian Equity Hedge Fund

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

18 May 2006

Russian investment firm, Troika Dialog has announced the launch of a hedge fund which will invest primarily in companies based in Russia and certain countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The Cayman-registered Troika Russia Fund employs a long/short equity strategy operated and developed by the Fund’s Investment Advisor, ZAO Troika Dialog Asset Management in Moscow over the last 3 years. At launch, the fund had more than US$40 million in assets.

Troika says that the investment objective of the Fund is to achieve long term total return through investment primarily in the publicly-traded equity-related securities of companies operating in Russia, and to a lesser extent, other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, principally Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The Fund expects to achieve this primarily through capital appreciation.

The fund will take both long and short positions and employ a variety of derivatives strategies, using top down and bottom-up fundamental research and proprietary valuation models.

The fund will be available to professional investors on a private placement basis and offers them the choice of investing in either the partnership interests or listed shares. TRF has four share/partnership classes, denominated in US$ or in Euros and offering either monthly or bi-annual dealing.

The shares are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.

“There is a wide range of investment opportunities in the Russian and CIS markets and this range continues to increase as liquidity improves and as new companies come to market. Although the region is often viewed purely as a resource/commodity based economy, there are many other companies besides," explained Stephen Cohen, Managing Director of Troika Dialog (UK).

"The economic growth prospects remain good and Russia's macroeconomic strength and stability continue to improve," he added.

Founded in 1991, Troika Dialog is headquartered in Moscow and has a presence in ten major Russian cities, in addition to New York, London and Kiev. Its core businesses are securities trading, investment banking and asset management.

ZAO Troika Dialog Asset Management, founded in 1996, has four open-end mutual funds, two interval funds and one closed-end real estate fund, as well as a private equity fund.

Recommended