MSCI Barra (NYSE:MXB), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, including indices and portfolio risk and performance analytics, announced today that it is to launch the MSCI Asia-Pacific Hedge Fund OPTIX Index, a new investable hedge fund index designed to reflect the overall structure and composition of the Asia-Pacific hedge fund universe. The index has been licensed to Natixis Alternative Investments, Limited (NAI), to form the basis of index-linked products.
Index constituents will be selected from the NAI hedge fund platform where the day-to-day investment management of the funds is performed by external hedge fund managers. The index will comprise only funds open to new subscriptions. NAI, working with SPARX International (Hong Kong) Limited will be responsible for selecting and conducting due diligence on the hedge fund managers. NAI will also monitor the investment mandate of each managed fund.
Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI Barra, said, “The forthcoming launch of the MSCI Asia-Pacific Hedge Fund OPTIX Index responds to investor demand for a liquid and representative investable hedge fund index that reflects the overall Asia-Pacific hedge fund opportunity set. The index is designed to serve as the basis of index-linked financial products, such as funds, derivatives, and structured products. In developing this index, we are pleased to have worked with Natixis Alternative Investments and SPARX, leading industry participants in the region.”
Sophie Souliac Deschamps, CEO of NAI, commented, “The expansion of investable hedge fund indices to cover the Asia-Pacific marketplace is a natural evolution that investors are seeking. We are excited to work with MSCI Barra, whose pedigree and reputation for calculating quality indices provides the robust framework investors desire.”
Shuhei Abe, CEO and President of the SPARX Group, said, “We are enthusiastic about the prospect of leveraging our local knowledge and expertise to secure the representative constituent funds needed to construct the index and to deliver the quality product that the clients of our respective firms have come to expect.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Hedge Fund OPTIX Index will comprise a diverse sample of hedge fund strategies focused on the Asia-Pacific region and will contain funds that have at least monthly liquidity. Calculation of the index is expected to begin in March 2008, and it is expected to launch with around 20 constituent funds.
The index will be constructed and maintained by MSCI Barra according to the MSCI Investable Hedge Fund Index Methodology (available at www.mscibarra.com).