Gottex says hedge fund outflows to reverse in '10

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Author: Martin de Sa'Pinto, Reuters

* Assets under Management slip to $8.1 bln at end-Q4

* Says strong institutional interest in hedge funds

Alternative asset manager Gottex Fund Management Holdings (GFMN.S) said it expected solid inflows from institutional investors into its hedge funds this year despite assets slipping in the fourth quarter.

The company also said its market neutral funds, which attempt to neutralise exposure to market direction by taking long and short positions, could regain their high water mark -- the level at which they can take performance fees -- in the second half of the year if they continued to perform well.

"In the fourth quarter we continued the strong performance trend that started earlier in 2009, and ... our core market neutral and portable alpha products have markedly outperformed their relevant indices," Gottex Chief Executive Joachim Gottschalk said in a statement.

"Investors who remained invested in hedge funds through the financial crisis have by and large recovered the vast majority of their 2008 losses, much earlier than many of those who were invested in other asset classes."

Total fee-earning assets, including those held on Gottex Solutions Services, the company's managed account platform, fell to $8.1 billion from $8.2 billion at the end of the third quarter, excluding the Constellar integration.

Gottex also said it has a strong balance sheet, with no debt and substantial cash reserves.