Montrusco Bolton and Focus Group to launch Principal Protected Notes

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Montrusco Bolton Investments, a leading Canadian investment management firm, and Bermuda-based hedge fund specialist Focus Group have structured a principal protected vehicle in cooperation with BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada), appointing National Bank Financial as lead agent to make the Notes available across Canada. The return on the Notes will be linked to the return of Montrusco Bolton Focus Global Protected Fund, which invests in a portfolio of diversified strategies of highly-specialized alternative investments. The initial hedge fund portfolio will consist of 15 highly-specialized and well-diversified hedge funds that employ several investment strategies - Convertible Arbitrage, Merger Arbitrage, Event-Driven and Long/Short Equity - that are designed to capitalize on market inefficiencies and investment opportunities, regardless of the direction of the markets. Montrusco Bolton, through its partnership with Focus Group, applies a venture capital approach to hedge fund investing where it seeks to form early stage and enduring business relationships with talented managers. This approach will enable investors to access (through Focus's reserved capacity) the highly-specialized strategies of the Underlying Funds before they reach capacity. The Montrusco Bolton Focus Global Protected Notes are RRSP eligible as Canadian content. Montrusco Bolton partnered with Bermuda-based hedge fund specialist Focus Group last summer to help it expand in the fast-growing market of alternative investments in Canada. The two firms launched their first Fund of Funds in February of this year. Last year, to head its new initiative, Montrusco Bolton hired Frank Belvedere, an actuary and investment consultant, as well as one of Canada's leading experts in the application of conservative hedged strategies to institutional and private clients' portfolios. "While hedge funds are gaining acceptance in Canada, most are under-diversified and make blind allocations to managers, thereby increasing risk," stated Frank Belvedere, vice-president of Montrusco's Alternative Investments. "The combined experience of our partner, Focus Group, and Montrusco Bolton working with large institutional investors, led us to take a different course of action," he concluded. "This product is ideal for risk-averse individual investors." "This vehicle will enable investors to diversify their portfolios by capturing absolute positive returns regardless of stock market and interest rate volatility, while guaranteeing 100% of their capital," said Eugenio Verzili, managing director of Focus Group. "Together with our partners, Montrusco Bolton, we expect to achieve our goal of leading the Canadian market by structuring the highest quality alternative investment products," added Verzili. Montrusco Bolton is a privately held company. Ownership is broadly distributed among 30 key employees who own approximately 30% of the shares outstanding and First International Asset Management Inc. (First Asset), which owns the remaining 70%. First Asset is a wealth management company based in Toronto, whose financial sponsors include CIBC World Markets, Goldman Sachs Mezzanine and Soros Partners. Together with its affiliates, First Asset manages over $25 billion. Focus Group pioneered the specialist-driven "Multi-Manager" concept and has become a leader in alternative asset management. Focus Group is a global open organization able to tap into its extensive, worldwide network of the finest investment professionals, while using a unique "venture capital" approach to hedge fund investing.