The Citigroup Private Bank, with the help of a hedge funds specialist, met with investors across the Middle East to promote greater understanding of the benefits and risks of hedge funds, introduce advanced investment techniques and discuss the role of the asset class as a wealth management tool in a diversified portfolio of traditional and alternative investments.
Senior Investment Officer of Citigroup Alternative Investment’s Fund of Hedge Funds Group, Clifford De Souza provided practical examples of advanced portfolio construction using hedge funds to groups of clients of the Citigroup Private Bank.
A hedge fund is defined as an investment structure for managing a private investment pool that can invest in both physical securities like equities and bonds and derivative markets on a leveraged basis i.e. through borrowings. Legally, it may take the form of a limited partnership, corporation trust or mutual fund, depending on where the fund is domiciled and the type of investors it seeks to attract. The largest group of hedge fund investors has been ultra-affluent private individuals, who are usually clients of private banks.
In September 2003, it was estimated that there were almost 5000 active hedge funds totaling almost $700 billion in assets under management. Forty-two percent of assets invested in hedge funds were from individual investors and family offices.
The Citigroup Private Bank, one of the largest private banking businesses in the world, provides personalized wealth management services for clients through 125 offices in 89 cities in 33 countries. The Citigroup Private Bank provides services and products through various Citigroup affiliates. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
