Salus Alpha brings hedge funds to Asia

Swiss firm Salus Alpha has been touring Asia recently with its portfolio of Ucits-compliant hedge funds, hoping to win allocations from the region's investors.

"We've been receiving a good reception in Asia from sovereigns and funds of funds," says Oliver Prock, Zug-based chief executive and chief investment officer of the $1 billion fund.

The two funds Salus expects to be the most attractive to investors are its two biggest: Salus Alpha Commodity Arbitrage and Salus Alpha Directional Markets, a managed futures product.

Unlike a lot of managed futures funds, the latter strategy managed 1% positive returns last year due to maintaining low net exposure and keeping risk under control. The fund was up 0.6% and has a maximum sales fee of 5.55%, a redemption fee of 4.45% and a management fee of 2.5%.

Salus Alpha Commodity Arbitrage is a market-neutral, soft commodity-focused fund that shorts short-term contracts and goes long long-term contracts to take advantage of contango environments (when delivery prices for futures exceed spot prices). This fund, which fell 1.8% last year, has a sales and redemption fee of 6% maximum, a 2.5% management fee and a 20% performance fee.

All Salus Alpha's funds have been Ucits-compliant since that designation came into being in 2007. For example, the managed futures fund is $200 million in size and it has a $50 million Ucits component.

"We have been getting a positive response from Asian investors about Ucits," says Gunther Schneider, head of global business development at Salus Alpha. "They like the legal framework and the daily liquidity."