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Maximilian Spiess Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:

There is this conundrum in the investment world at the moment. As an investor, should I invest in highly liquid products or funds, which would allow me to withdraw my money quickly and without fuss, but run the risk of getting mediocre returns? Or should I lock my money in a long-term strategy or illiquid product and pray for healthy returns in the end? And as a fund manager, should I focus on highly liquid products and thereby attract investors more easily, or should I go against the current risk-averse trend and invest in illiquid assets, where opportunities abound and which might just be more rewarding? This was discussed at the recent Opalesque Pfaeffikon Roundtable (Switzeland).

Maximilian Spiess, Swiss-based manager for the $5bn forex investment house FX Concepts, said his firm saw more outflows than inflows in 2011. "A lot of it has to do with the daily liquidity products we are offering," he explained. "People are getting in and out more frequently and even institutional investors are looking for daily liquidity products. Having said that, the inflows that came in were mainly due to the fact that we are offering high watermark historical, all time high water markets. It is currently a free ride for investors, so that is at least something we can offer them at the moment."

According to Walter Pfaff, Head of Asset All......................

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