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Alternative Market Briefing

New Opalesque A SQUARE Index: 'Alternative Alternatives' investments and niche strategies offer lower volatility and market risk than traditional hedge funds

Monday, January 24, 2011

Opalesque today announced the results of the Opalesque A SQUARE ('alternative-alternatives') indices covering the performance of niche alternative investment funds. The indices are calculated based on the net performance of 583 single- and multi-manager funds currently listed in 22 categories in the Opalesque Solutions A SQUARE Fund Database (Source).

The Opalesque A SQUARE Index gained 1.5% in December, bringing the 2010 performance to +9.83%. The A SQUARE Funds of Funds Index posted a gain of 0.82% in December, finishing 2010 up 2.15%.

The monthly performance of the A SQUARE Index ranged between a gain of 3.12% in September and a loss of 1.97% in May, with 9 positive and 3 negative months. With a single-digit 2010 return, it slightly underperformed its two benchmarks: Hedge funds tracked by the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index returned 10.56% in 2010, while global equity markets, represented by the MSCI World Index, ended the year with a gain of 10.96%.

While the index underperformed by only 1% last year, the returns were generated with notably low absolute and relative risk. Volatility (defined as annualized standard deviation) was 4.55% for the A SQUARE Index and 4.38% for the FoF Index, compared to 6.55% for the HFRI and over 20% for the MSCI World.

Additionally, market risk, measured by the corresponding beta values, was low for both A SQUARE indices, a result of the small......................

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