Rasmala expert says investors can profit even in a bear market

23 may 2006

SELECTING the right investment fund strategy can produce good returns for investors, even when markets are falling, according to a leading Dubai asset management expert.

Partner and head of Asset Management for Rasmala Investments (Dubai), Eric Swats, says that by carefully selecting the right investment fund, investment fund manager and fund strategy, investors can make money without taking too many risks and with a relatively low investment.

Mr Swats is a Chartered Financial Analyst with extensive experience as a leading asset manager in Zurich, London and New York and is a keynote speaker at this week’s international Asset Allocation Summit being held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai. The summit is attended by some of the world’s leading asset managers.

Mr Swats said it was important for investors to first select managers whose investment objectives corresponded with those of the investor.

The selection of the fund could be based on a wide range of criteria from geographical or industry sector to classes of assets; however, all funds should be able to show they had a ‘sustainable edge’ in their performance; had effective operations and portfolio transparency; better fees and liquidity; and produced timely and informative reports.

He said investors should also look at having a ‘fund-of-funds’.
“This is a portfolio of funds thoughtfully constructed to achieve a desired return/risk profile through a variety of investment managers, investment strategies, and subcategories that reduce fund level risk through a diversification of multiple strategies.

“It also mitigates risk of having a single hedge fund manager; leverages an additional level of professional due diligence, portfolio construction, and monitoring; provides access to hedge funds that are closed to new investors as well as access to multiple hedge funds at a low investment minimum; and provides consolidated performance and tax reporting.”

Mr Swats said a fund-of-funds enabled investors to diversify and divide their investment into everything from global equity opportunity funds, to real estate and natural resources, or to have a balance of high risk/high return and low risk/lower return investments.

Rasmala manages funds in global and Arab markets across all main asset classes, particularly Hedge Funds, Equity and Real Estate Funds.

In April the company launched The Rasmala Global Equity Opportunity Fund, a diversified global ‘fund-of-funds’.

The Rasmala Global Equity Opportunity Fund (GEO) is a Cayman-domiciled US Dollar-denominated fund that aims to achieve solid returns and capital appreciation with moderate risk over a full market cycle.

It invests in global long only and long short equity funds and instruments and its launch followed the success of Rasmala’s Multi-Manager, Multi-Strategy Fund of Hedge Funds which was launched in June 2005.