Thirtieth Investment Company to list on SWX

On Tuesday, 25 January, the 30th issuer is slated to have its securities listed in the SWX investment company segment: Acorn Alternative Strategies AG, Basel. The company was founded in 1999 and is a hedge fund with a "fund of funds" structure. A separate set of rules and regulations has been in force since 1 March 1998 for investment companies listed on SWX. Such companies are similar to investment funds but, by way of contrast, are organised as joint-stock companies. They have the sole purpose of achieving capital gains via collective investment and otherwise pursue no business activities. The SWX investment company segment is one of a kind and takes into account the special characteristics of that type of participation company. Consequently, prior to listing, these investment vehicles are not required to have a track record in the form of an existing annual report. However, increased disclosure requirements apply for the companies' periodic financial reports and the valuation of investments they hold. Since 1 July 1998, the SWX Swiss Exchange has been computing and publicising its own Investment Company Index (ICS), which belongs to the family of the Swiss Performance Indices (SPI). The total market capitalisation of all SWX-listed investment companies amounted to CHF 24.3 billion at the end of December 1999. This segment covers a broad palette of companies that differ from one another in structure and investment policy. As the result of an increasing number of listing requests and inquiries coming from real-estate investment companies, a further supplemental set of listing rules for that type of company is currently being circulated for comment. The new rules will likely be adopted this spring and take effect in the third quarter of 2000.