Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund Ranked #1 in Morningstar's Conservative Allocation Category Out of 367 Funds for the One-Year Perio
January 04 2005 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund Ranked #1 in Morningstar's
Conservative Allocation Category Out of 367 Funds for the One-Year
Period Ending 12/31/04 (Based on Total Return)* WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.,
Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alternative Investment Partners,
LLC (AIP http://www.aipfunds.com/ ) is pleased to announce the 2004
performance for their Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (NASDAQ:ALPHX).
The Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund is an innovative open-end mutual
fund designed to minimize equity market exposure and volatility by
employing a variety of absolute return strategies. The Fund
represents the next generation of product for hedged alternative
strategies investing, and is open to all investors. The Alpha
Hedged Strategies Fund delivered strong performance in 2004. The
Fund was up 17.23% for the past year, and the annualized return
from inception on 9/23/02 through 12/31/04 was 7.72%. Performance
data quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee
future results. The investment return and principal value of an
investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when
redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Fund
performance current to the most recent month-end may be lower or
higher than the performance quoted and may be obtained by visiting
http://www.aipfunds.com/. The fund imposes a 2.00% redemption fee
for shares redeemed less than 180 calendar days after they are
purchased. According to Morningstar, the Alpha Hedged Strategies
Fund beat the #2 fund in the Conservative Allocation category by
3.11% in 2004. There are 367 mutual funds monitored in the
Conservative Allocation category. Morningstar rankings are based on
total return. Total return identifies the return of the Fund taking
into consideration changes in the net asset value, accumulation and
reinvestment of dividends and the compounding factor over time.
"Investors are increasingly searching for alternatives to funds
that have significant exposure to the equity markets" said Lee
Schultheis, Chief Investment Strategist and co-founder of AIP and
the Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund. "As a fully open-end mutual fund
that allocates its assets among multiple specialized hedge fund
managers (the Fund's sub-advisers), Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund
represents a compelling opportunity for mutual fund investors, and
an attractive alternative to traditional hedge fund-of-funds for
many high net worth individuals and financial intermediaries. The
Fund seeks to attain more consistently positive annual returns,
with lower market exposure risk and volatility, than if it utilized
a single manager or single strategy approach." As a multi-strategy
fund, it is important to note that performance was positive in 2004
across a broad range of alternative strategies, including
Distressed Securities, Earnings Revision Long/Short Equity,
Momentum Long/Short Equity, Merger Arbitrage and Convertible Bond
Arbitrage." Due to its unique positioning, and favorable
performance, the Fund has been extremely well received by the
registered investment advisor community, and we have even made
inroads in the 401(k) plan marketplace and with selected bank trust
departments," Mr. Schultheis noted. "Looking forward to 2005, we
are planning to expand into the regional broker/dealer channel, and
increase the breadth and depth of our relationships in our existing
markets. As the success and stature of the AIP brand grows, we also
anticipate rolling out additional fund products to provide our
clients with a broad array of risk adjusted return oriented
alternative products." About the Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund The
Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (ALPHX) is an open-end mutual fund
that invests its portfolio in a manner similar to a conservative
hedge fund-of-funds. The fund employs a multi-manager approach to a
variety of hedged alternative investment styles, but with a liquid
portfolio of its own securities, using the limited amounts of
leverage and short-selling allowable in open-end mutual funds. The
Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund utilizes the talents of highly
specialized hedge fund managers, as sub-advisers to the Fund, in
executing their alternative investment strategies. The Fund offers
the portfolio diversification benefits that institutions, pension
funds, endowments & foundations, and high-net worth individuals
have become accustomed to in hedge funds. The Fund combines these
portfolio attributes with the daily pricing, liquidity, and other
shareholder features commonly associated with open-end mutual
funds. As such, the Fund is uniquely positioned to provide its
shareholders with portfolio diversification that goes well beyond
the traditional asset classes of stocks, bonds and cash. For more
information on the Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund please visit
http://www.aipfunds.com/ or call 1-866-Low-Beta (569-2382). Fund
Disclosure The fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and
expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The
prospectus contains this and other important information about the
investment company, and it may be obtained by calling
1-877-Low-Beta (569-2382), or visiting http://www.aipfunds.com/.
Read it carefully before investing. Certain hedging techniques and
leverage employed in the management of the Fund may accelerate the
velocity of possible losses. Short selling involves the risk of
potentially unlimited increase in the market value of the security
sold short, which could result in potentially unlimited loss for
the Fund. Derivatives involve investment exposure that may exceed
the original cost and a small investment in derivatives could have
a large potential impact on the performance of the Fund. Options
held in the Fund may be illiquid and the fund manager may have
difficulty closing out a position. The Fund may also invest in: --
smaller capitalized companies -- subject to more abrupt or erratic
market movements than larger, more established companies; --
foreign securities, which involve currency risk, different
accounting standards and are subject to political instability; --
securities limited to resale to qualified institutional investors,
which can affect their degree of liquidity; -- shares of other
investment companies that invest in securities and styles similar
to the Fund, resulting in a generally higher investment cost than
from investing directly in the underlying shares of these funds.
The Fund intends to utilize these individual securities and hedging
techniques in matched combinations that are designed to neutralize
or offset the individual risks of employing these techniques
separately. Some of these matched strategies include: merger
arbitrage, long/short equity, convertible bond arbitrage and
fixed-income arbitrage. There is no assurance that these strategies
will protect against losses. * Morningstar defines Conservative
Allocation as: a fund that invests in both stocks and bonds and
maintains a relatively small position in stocks. These funds
typically have 20-50% of their assets in stocks and 50-80% of
assets in bonds and cash. Mutual fund investing involves risk; loss
of principal is possible. Please consult an investment professional
for advice regarding your particular circumstances. Quasar
Distributors, LLC, Distributor - 1/05 Contact: Jennifer Connelly JC
Public Relations 908-813-2478 This press release was distributed by
PRWEB ( http://www.prwebdirect.com/ ), a service of eMediawire.
DATASOURCE: Alternative Investment Partners, LLC CONTACT: Jennifer
Connelly of JC Public Relations, +1-908-813-2478, for Alternative
Investment Partners, LLC Web site: http://www.aipfunds.com/
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