Industry Updates

Axiom Fund waives management fees - a first for the alternative UCITS sector

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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Opalesque Industry Update - Axiom Fund announced a major change in the fee structure of the Axiom UCITS Alternative Investable Index Fund (“the Axiom Fund”). The Axiom Fund has waived its management fees, becoming the first fund of funds in the alternative UCITS space to charge performance fees only.

Axiom Fundis taking this groundbreaking step to better align the interests of investors in the fund and lead the way in developing a new approach to fees for the UCITS industry. The 1% management fee will be replaced with a 10% performance fee, meaning that investors will now only pay fees when the fund delivers positive performance. The performance fee is subject to a high water mark.

Launched in December 2010, the Axiom Fund is the first investable index of UCITS hedge funds. It offers weekly liquidity and aims to replicate the performance of the UCITS Alternative Blue Chip Index (“the UAI Blue Chip Index”) provided by Alix Capital. The UAI Blue Chip Index is a rule based benchmark comprising the 50 largest UCITS hedge funds and is rebalanced quarterly.

Alessandro Mauceri, Chairman of the Board of the Axiom Fund, says: “The Axiom Fund addresses clients’ ongoing concerns regarding traditional funds of hedge funds, notably their opacity, lack of liquidity, the operational risk linked to such structures and the multiple layers of fees.

“In 2009, we were among the pioneers in entering the UCITS onshore hedge funds universe, enabling us to respond to the main concerns of investors. Today we are solving the last issue by waiving our management commission and charging only incentive fees. This ensures that our interests are truly aligned with those of our clients.

“Investors remain keen to allocate to alternatives in the search of alpha, but are challenging the approach of traditional investment vehicles. As the UCITS sector continues to grow we believe that inflows will follow the best UCITs products available. The Axiom fund gives investors easy access to these top tier funds in a highly transparent, cost efficient way.”

Louis Zanolin, CEO of Alix Capital, says: “Given their high liquidity and strong regulatory oversight, UCITS hedge funds are particularly well suited for index based products. The added benefit of real alignment of interests between investors and managers on this fund creates a compelling investment proposition for investors.”

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