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Virtuoso is a fully customizable investment platform designed to generate sustainable alpha above commodity benchmark investment, including the Diapason Commodity Index® (DCI®) or any other investable commodity index - for example the widely-used Dow Jones-UBS Commodity IndexSM(DJ-UBSCISM). The platform targets performance of four to six percent above the chosen benchmark depending on portfolio constraints and is designed for pension funds, endowments, insurance firms and other institutional investors all of which allocate to the commodity asset class via benchmark indices. In times of increased market volatility institutions need a more sophisticated way of managing commodity exposure, and this innovative investment platform addresses this need.

Commodity benchmark investment is enhanced in two ways with Virtuoso. Firstly by incorporating a proprietary curve optimization algorithm, which maximizes the roll return implicit in commodity index investment. Secondly by adding a tactical allocation overlay which uses fundamental and market sentiment indicators including relative inventory levels and macroeconomic data, as well as the positioning of market participants on underlying commodities to identify extreme conditions and to anticipate market reversals. Institutions are able to then adapt the program based on investor defined portfolio constraints, for example maximum leverage or short exposure can be tailored to suit.

Mark McDonnell, Managing Director of Diapason commented "Commodity investment is evolving and remains a fundamental component of institutional investment portfolios - as a diversification tool, as a hedge against inflation and as a source of tangible asset performance. Our Virtuoso Smart Beta platform has been developed based on client demand from investors who want a more sophisticated approach to commodity index investment and who are looking to exploit the return potential of the asset class given the current stage of the business cycle".

Press release

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