Fri, Mar 29, 2024
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

Castle Alternative Invest initiates share buyback program

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thomas Weber
Opalesque Industry Update - Castle Alternative Invest AG, a fund of hedge funds listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange, authorized the board to effect a share buyback program at the Annual General Meeting held on 17 May 2011. Under the program a maximum of 10 per cent of the Company's share capital (1,748,160 shares) can be repurchased. The effective size of the program remains at the discretion of the board in light of available portfolio liquidity, the number of shares already purchased and market conditions.

Dates for the share buyback program have now been confirmed. It will be executed via a second trading line denominated in CHF which will be opened on the SIX Swiss Exchange on 18 July 2011, and will remain open until 5 June 2012 at the latest. The Company will be the exclusive buyer on the second line and will repurchase shares for the purpose of subsequently reducing its share capital. Zurich Cantonal Bank will be the SIX Swiss Exchange member responsible for setting bid prices on the second line. For shares purchased on the second trading line, Swiss federal withholding tax of 35% of the difference between the repurchase price and the nominal value of the shares (CHF 5) will be deducted from the price.

The AGM also approved a share capital reduction by way of cancellation of 2,225,464 shares being the number of shares purchased in last year’s second line buyback program. The cancellation will occur after 25 July 2011. The Company, which has assets of approximately USD 278 million, was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in April 1997 and has been dual listed in London since June 2009. Castle AI invests in a diversified and actively managed portfolio of hedge funds, managed accounts and other investment vehicles in order to target long term capital growth.

Castle AI has achieved a net annualized return of 6.85% since inception in US Dollar terms, compared to an annualized return of 3.35% for the MSCI World Index, with correlation to the index of 0.49. Thomas Weber, co-head of hedge fund investment management, LGT Capital Partners (LGT CP), has been lead portfolio manager since launch.

Mark White, co-head of listed investment companies, LGT CP, said: "The board of Castle AI believes in an active approach to managing the discount to net asset value and has implemented this program to support the price at which shares trade in the secondary market. The Company has a long track record of delivering positive returns, proving an effective investment vehicle for investors wishing to enhance their portfolio diversification. The second trading line should help to tighten the discount, and should result in a share price which better reflects the value of the Company and the quality of its underlying investments."
(press release)
Source
KM

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. KKR raises $6.4bn for the largest pan-Asia infrastructure fund[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The New York-based global investment firm KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its second Asia-focused infrastructure fund, underlining investors' continued appetite for private markets. According to a media release from the alternative assets manager, the figure top

  2. Bucking the trend, top hedge fund makes plans for a second SPAC[more]

    From Institutional Investor: SPACs aren't dead. At least not to the folks at Cormorant Asset Management. The life sciences firm, whose hedge fund topped its peers in 2023, is confident it will match the success of its first blank-check company. Last week, the life sciences and biopharma speciali

  3. Benefit Street Partners closes fifth fund on $4.7 billion[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Benefit Street Partners has closed its fifth flagship direct lending vehicle, BSP Debt Fund V, with $4.7 billion of investable capital across the strategy. Benefit Street invests primarily in privately originated, floating rate, senior secured loans. The fun

  4. 4 hedge fund themes that are working in 2024[more]

    From The Street: A poor earnings report from Tesla (TSLA) has not hurt the indexes on Thursday. The decline in Tesla stock, which is losing its position in the Magnificent Seven pantheon, is more than offset by strong earnings from IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) . In addition, the much higher-t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: A global macro fund eyes opportunities in bonds[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers: Munich-based ThirdYear Capital rebounded in 2023, following a tough year for global macro. The firm's flagship ART Global Macro strategy finished the year up 1