WEST PALM BEACH (HEDGECO.NET) – BNP Paribas Asset Management Company, the investment subsidiary of BNP Paribas has added three new hedge funds to its hedge fund investment umbrella. According tocompany spokesman, the asset manager has unveiled a new market neutral fund, domiciled in Dublin Ireland. The second in the series of the new products is a global macro fund, based in France, and thethird fund a Trend fund is also domiciled in France. In a company statement released in Paris, company officials said the three new hedge funds would be managed from France.
BNP is pursuing an aggressive strategy of new fund launches, and plans to introduce new hedge fund products during the first quarter of 2004 according to the released statement. Among the new expected launchings in the first quarter of 2004 would be a long-short equity hedge funds. Details about the proposed launchings have not been provided as yet. A specialized team of asset managers with over six years experience managing such asset classes would run the new portfolios
The new launched funds are projected to return between 10-15% to the fund�s investors, volatility is expected to be within 5-10%. The new funds are targeting both the individual and institutional investors in Europe with particular emphasis on French investor population. The new fund products would be a complimentary addition to BNP Paribas� vast umbrella of hedge fund products.
BNP Paribas is made up of three core businesses: Corporate and Investment Banking, Retail Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management, and also BNP Paribas Capital which spearheads the Private Equity business. After Paribas and Soci�t� G�n�rale announced on February 1st, 1999 their plans to merge, BNP launched two takeover bids for Soci�t� G�n�rale and Paribas on March 9, offering 11 BNP shares for 8 Paribas shares, and 15 BNP shares for 7 Soci�t� G�n�rale shares according to information from company sources.
The French financial markets watchdog authority, the Conseil des March�s Financiers, decided that the merger could proceed. The Combined General Shareholders’ Meeting convened on May 23, 2000 confirmed the creation of the new BNP Paribas Group. The new group has a net income of 1,348 million euros and 77,000 employees working in 83 countries around the world, the Asset branch of PNB Paribas manages about US$15 billion in investor assets.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
Hedgeco.net
Paul is author of new book: Hedge Funds: Investment Vehicles for the global economy, what investors must know about them. You can purchase the book through Amazon.com by clicking this link or by calling our office at 1-877-HEDGECO.
