Dear Reader,

Please find below the download link to our Opalesque 2010 Zurich Roundtable! It is estimated that around one third of all global hedge fund assets are allocated through Switzerland - the country is home to some of the most experienced and largest investors into hedge funds.

"Relocating to Switzerland": Experiences of New York and London hedge funds who moved here
Recently, an increasing number of hedge fund managers have either launched funds from Switzerland or moved their whole operation into the country. They benefit from the presence of those end-investors: not only represent the Swiss pension fund and insurance industries a lot of capital, but more importantly, this group has endorsed hedge funds relatively early on, and are now increasing their engagement in this alternative asset class.

Swiss fund of hedge funds say the quality of hedge fund managers based in Switzerland is good compared to other locations, with one Roundtable participant having 15% to 20% of assets allocated to Swiss or partially Swiss-based managers - quite substantial given the moderate share of Swiss based single hedge compared to the US or UK. As a special in this Opalesque Roundtable, hear from London and New York hedge fund managers why they moved to the Zurich area, and what this experience was like.

Small is beautiful: Why some Swiss investors prefer small managers - why asset concentration to large managers can be dangerous
93% of the net inflows in the second quarter of 2010 went into hedge funds managing more than $5 billion. That group of funds collectively manages about 60% of total industry assets. What is behind this trend? And what are some of the problems the industry will face if this massive asset concentration continues? Are smaller funds the way to go?

New Paradigm in Hedge Fund Technology emerges
Financial markets and hedge fund strategies change all the time. Apart from investment risk, hedge funds today need to cope with an increased visibility of reputational and counterparty risk. Investor due diligence demands have grown – taking time away from managing a fund. Across the board, hedge funds are forced to review their processes and capabilities. This new operational paradigm created more demands on the middle and back office to act as profit centers within the organization. What tools are now available to fit a fund manager's applications to new internal needs, and enhance workflow capability internally and with the outside world?

In addition, this Roundtable covers:

• How to save gated asset-based lending funds: A new bank plans to provide liquidity to up to 200 asset-based lending funds with aggregate $100 to $200 billion locked up in gates
• How do you know your NAV is right? How some hedge funds improve their NAV up to 25bps by checking their independent fund administrator's work
• A small country: what limitations or challenges hedge funds face when coming to Switzerland
• How Swiss hedge fund managers achieve better alignment between managers and investors
• Update from the world of futures and CTAs: how to best invest in systematic strategies
• The UCITS discussion: what works and what not – will UCITS still be around in ten years?

The 2010 Opalesque Zurich Roundtable was sponsored by Advent Software and took place September 7th with the following experts:

• Alexis Dawance, Co-Founder Global-Cap
• Chris Manser, Global Head of Hedge Funds, AXA Investment Managers
• Frederick Barnard, Partner, Limmat Capital Alternative Investments
• Gregor Etzweiler, Partner, 47 Degrees North
• Guy Spier, Founder, Aquamarine Capital
• Joseph (Joe) Taussig, Founder, Taussig Capital
• Karsten Schroeder, Head of Research and Chairman, Amplitude Capital
• Tom Zdon, Vice President of Business Development and Solution Consulting, Advent Software

We also thank the Opalesque 2010 Roundtable Series Sponsors Custom House Group and Taussig Capital for their support.

Matthias Knab
Director Opalesque Ltd.
knab@opalesque.com

The Opalesque Roundtable Series offers unparalleled intelligence on the most important global hedge fund jurisdictions and their players. The Roundtable Series is a free publication from Opalesque and is continually updated. Please scroll down to view the full selection of our Roundtables - covering the globe!

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