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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

While many hedge funds were having a rocky first quarter, there were some bright spots elsewhere in the market. Real estate securities were delivering for investors. One manager that capitalized on those gains was Rick Murray of St. Louis-based Midwest Advisors.

Midwest Advisors trades real estate equities including REITs, REOCs, homebuilders, developers, residential and commercial construction companies, and real estate services companies. But, unlike a lot of other real estate funds Midwest maintains an exposure to small-cap real estate equities that have been left behind by Wall Street analysts. Rick Murray, CEO and Portfolio Manager tells Opalesque that this philosophy provides the firm with a range of opportunities that set them apart from other funds.

"We think real estate provides a consistent source of value, almost regardless of what is happening in the market," Murray says.

So far, Murray's thesis about real estate has turned out. The Dynamic Opportunities Portfolio gained 4.7% net of fees and expenses in February, and is up 6.5 percent year-to-date, while other hedge fund strategies have had to contend with less than ideal performance results. Indeed even the Dow Jones US Real Estate Index dropped 0.5 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent, and the Russell 2000 and HFRI returned -0.1 percent and -0.6 percent respectively.

Yet, even with all of the positivity Murray says there are some concerns. He sees the ......................

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