Montreal Hedge-Fund Manager Crystalline launches Offshore version of Amethyst Arbitrage Fund

Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Montreal-based hedge fund manager Crystalline Management Inc., assisted by Aramis Capital SA, a European marketing agent from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, launched the offshore version of its flagship fund, the Amethyst Arbitrage Fund on Dec 1st 2004. Amethyst is a low volatility hedge fund investing in Canadian event driven opportunities (primarily M&As) and Canadian convertible securities. "International investors are looking for Canadian investment products that offer the unique risk/return & correlation characteristics experienced by Amethyst" says Marc Amirault, President of the firm and Principal Manager. "These investors now have access to two low risk investment strategies in a single product, making it a highly sought diversification instrument". From inception in July 1998 to December 2004, the Amethyst Arbitrage Fund (onshore) has produced an annual 11.1 % net return with a volatility of 4.7 %.