Newcits – Universal-Investment and US hedge fund manager York launch jointly a successful merger arbitrage strategy as UCITS fund

First global merger arbitrage strategy as UCITS fund in Europe
- UCITS fund opens US investment strategy to European investors, that has been successful since 1996
- Expansion for alternative investments platform UI-Newcits

New York/Frankfurt, 17 July 2010. Universal-Investment and New York based hedge fund specialist York Asset Management Inc. have launched a new absolute return fund in collaboration: The York Lion Merger Arbitrage Liquidity Fund UI (DE000A1CSUN5) is based upon “The Lion Fund Limited”, it is the first global merger arbitrage strategy as UCITS fund in Europe. The York Lion Merger Arbitrage Liquidity Fund UI invests globally in liquid securities listed in both established and emerging markets. The Fund invests in arbitrages which occur due to mergers and takeovers as well as other ’event driven’ situations. “With our investment method we distinguish between seven different types of event driven situations“, says Nick Walker, Chief Investment Officer of York Asset Management and manager of the Fund. “These types range from ’SPAC’ discount trades to friendly or hostile takeovers and to investments in liquidating securities.” A successful example is the 2008 acquisition of Brasil Telecom by Telemar, the strategy’s annualized return in this transaction was 22.4% for the 216 days in which it was invested. Another example is the 2009 CF Industries hostile merger of Terra Industries, a manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer. The strategy’s annualized return in this transaction was 83.6% for the 32 days in which it was invested.

Merger arbitrage is a common hedge fund strategy in the US, mainly because of its risk return profile and tendency to be non-correlated over time with the equity market. It is regarded as a conservative event driven strategy. The Lion Fund maintained its liquidity terms during the financial crisis, with an outstanding enduring of the merger arbitrage plunge in 2008. The Lion Fund Limited hedge fund started in 1996 in the US and is one of the oldest and most consistent global merger arbitrage hedge funds . Currently, York manages USD 250 million. Since its inception in 1996 the Lion Fund Limited has – with the exception of 2008 – managed to post a positive return in each completed calendar year. The Fund aims to achieve consistent long-term capital appreciation of annual 9% with a low correlation to equity markets. In the past years the fund had less than half of the volatility of the S&P 500 but doubled the S&Ps returns.

Expansion of UI-Newcits
“We are proud to launch the first European UCITS fund with a global merger arbitrage strategy”, says Bernd Vorbeck, spokesman of Universal-Investments management board. “The York Lion Merger Arbitrage Liquidity Fund UI is a great enrichment for UI-Newcits, Universal-Investments platform for the new funds generation of so called Newcits funds”, says Vorbeck. Using liquid alternative investment strategies, these newcits funds fall under the strict regime of European UCITS III regulation. Recently started, UI-Newcits contains already 9 funds with more than one billion Euros under administration.

FUND DATA AT GLANCE YORK LION MERGER ARBITRAGE LIQUIDITY FUND

Asset Manager: York Asset Management Inc., New York, USA
Investment company:Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt, Germany
Custodian: BNY Mellon Asset Servicing B.V., Frankfurt, Germany
Fund currency: Euro (EUR)
German securities ID / ISIN: A1CSUN / DE000A1CSUN5
Fund category: Event Driven
Initial charge: Up to 5%
Administration fee: Currently up to 2,5% p.a.
Performance fee: 20% of the performance with high watermark
Appropriation of income: Accumulation
Min. initial investment: –

ABOUT YORK ASSET MANAGEMENT INC.
York Asset Management Inc. is a New York based SEC registered Investment adviser wholly owned by York Group Limited. The York Group has total assets under management of USD 290 million and offices and regulated subsidiaries in NYC, London and Rio de Janeiro. In February 1996 the York Group launched The Lion Fund Limited. York manages five other funds using event driven and value strategies.

More information on www.yorklion.com

ABOUT UNIVERSAL-INVESTMENT
With fund assets in excess of EUR 121 billion under administration, 1,000 fund and investment mandates and a workforce of around 350, Universal-Investment is the largest independent investment company in german-spoken Europe. The focus lies on the efficient and transparent administration of funds, securities and alternative asset classes. Universal-Investment is the central platform for independent asset management and combines the investment expertise of asset managers, private banks, international asset managers and investment firms to offer an exceptional collection of first-class private label funds. The hallmark of Universal-Investment is that it has no single company philosophy. This means investors can choose from a broad universe of mutual funds with a wide range of investment philosophies and styles. As a subsidiary of prestigious private banks, which was founded in 1968, Universal-Investment is a pioneer in the investment industry and market leader for Master-KAG and private label funds. Members of the management board are Oliver Harth, Markus Neubauer and Bernd Vorbeck (spokesman). (As per 31 July 2010)

Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH
Am Hauptbahnhof 18, 60329 Frankfurt am Main

Bernd Obergfell
Press Officer
T:
M: +49 (0) 1 51 53 81 68 03
E: bernd.obergfell@universal-investment.com

This release was published on openPR.