Crédit Agricole offers online access to hedge fund database

As part of its ongoing strategy to develop products in alternative investments, Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management has announced the opening of online access to the Casam CISDM Database, formerly the MARHedge Database, through the launch of casamhedge.com.

The database is billed as the longest standing alternative products database of its kind, providing comprehensive hedge fund and Commodity Trading Advisor data to accredited institutional investors, consultants, pension funds and fund of funds managers as a means of identifying and analysing the hedge fund universe.

Subscribers can view and analyse historical returns and qualitative information on more than 5,000 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, commodity trading advisers and commodity pool operators. The database is also the source of Barron's Hedge Fund and CTA League Tables.

'We are pleased to announce the official launch of our hedge fund database web site,' says Jeff Lopez, deputy chief executive of Casam Americas. 'Initial reactions from our subscriber base are enthusiastic. Our subscribers enjoy the web site's user-friendliness and the enhanced features that allow them to research and analyse hedge funds.'

Subscribers to the site can access hedge fund performance and background data, with the ability to download and analyse Casam CISDM data using a choice of search criteria including strategy, domicile, geographic focus, currency, liquidity and performance and produce summary reports for funds and user-specified portfolios. Hedge fund managers can increase their exposure by listing their funds for free using an online uploading tool.

The web site displays performance information and statistics for a wide range of proprietary indices including the Casam CISDM index, derived from the database. Over the past two years, the database has been significantly enhanced by increasing the amount and quality of data, while the family of indices has also been extended.

The database is available for a free trial directly by subscription to casamhedge.com. Access is also provided through third party analytic software packages from providers such as PerTrac Financial Solutions,  Zephyr Associates, Markov Processes International and Imagineer Technology Group.

The Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM), part of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst), is a non-profit academic research centre focusing on securities and investment fund performance in US and international asset markets.

Casam is part of the Crédit Agricole Group, a joint venture between Calyon Corporate & Investment Bank and Crédit Agricole Asset Management Group, and specialises in the development of structured products, alternative managed accounts and exchange-traded funds.

Its alternative managed account platform seeks to provide a high level of transparency, risk control and liquidity, and offers access to a wide range of hedge fund strategies. Casam's investment solutions are available to investors worldwide through the sales networks of Crédit Agricole Asset Management Group and Calyon Corporate & Investment Bank.

Casam manages around 500 funds representing a total of EUR50.3bn in assets at the end of June, holds leading market positions in structured funds in France and Japan, and has made a start in Italy.