Hedge funds are growing once again because of the European investor.

Beverly Hills, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/25/2010 -- European hedge fund investors state British Virgin Islands hedge fund managers as a preference. As the hub of the industry, these managers can often boast attractive returns and investment experience, as well as offer funds which are at the forefront of the asset class.

BVI long/short equity funds are particularly popular with European investors because they have the potential to profit in a rising or falling market. This allows investors to build portfolios which are diversified not only by style, but by region too. European investors investing in BVI hedge funds will consider a range of investment strategies, and the BVI offers much greater choice in terms of styles to choose from.

After two years of dormancy, BVI hedge funds are growing once again. “We are seeing a significant amount of fund formation,” said Philippe Teilhard de Chardin, global head of prime brokerage at Newedge, a Paris-based firm.

Last month, Wall Street sat up and took notice when BVI-based Laureate Trust which only accepts €1 million minimum investment into its funds, launched a retail fund with a €2,500 minimum investment. CEO Peter Tasca says, “We’ve had huge demand for our retail fund. We’ve spoken to investors that have lost anywhere from €30,000 to €30,000,000 over the last two years and want a fund that can profit in any market environment.”

With financial markets on the upswing again, high-net worth clients and sovereign wealth funds are leaving traditional funds behind and moving into hedge funds. “For managers who had been sitting on the sidelines with new offerings in 2009, that means that now may be the right time to try launching,” said Udi Grofman, a partner in the investment management practice at law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel.

A well connected hedge fund manager may have been able to raise €1 billion in 2006 but in today’s market they’re probably looking at around €250 million. Tasca says, “investors have every reason to be skeptical of this market. A lot of clients that would normally make initial investments of €1 million are today subscribing to our retail fund with €50,000 to €100,000.”

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/sbwire-41058.htm

Learn how to trade like a top performing hedge fund manager

Beverly Hills, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/16/2010 -- We don’t like one time wonders, but we do like consistent ones, especially when it comes to performance over a full 10 year market cycle.

British Virgin Islands based Laureate Trust has a 10 year return of over 31%, in 2008 they ended the year up 42% while the average fund was down more than 40%. This fund company believes to buy-and-hold is a sure way to underperform the market. “The buy-and-hold strategy worked well in the 1990s but after year 2000 you must be fine tuning and adjusting positions in your portfolio. This is an evolving market and to buy-and-hold is simply fiscally irresponsible,” says CEO Peter Tasca.

One of the rule based trading strategies used by top performing hedge fund managers and professional traders, is a profit-loss plan with specific buy and sell targets. By cutting your losses and taking profits after a decent advance, you’ll avoid damaging losses to your portfolio.

In 2007, Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian pulled money out of a money-losing investment he made in Ford Motor Co. But he did not use the same sell-discipline in his shares of MGM Mirage which in October of 2007 were valued at $14.9 Billion USD, those assets are now worth around $850 million USD.

The first rule is the most important: sell your stock as soon as it pulls back 8% from your purchase price. The larger your losses, the more you need to make back. For example; if you purchase a stock at $50.00 and it goes down to $25.00, now to make back your losses your stock needs to go up 100% for a breakeven. Keep in mind, if you buy a stock that runs up 10% and pulls back 8%, you don’t necessarily have to sell. The stop-loss rule applies only to your purchase price. The reason professionals use 8% as their stop-loss rule is because historically winning stocks never fall more than 8% from their proper buy points.

An easier approach is to plan on taking profits once stocks are up 20% to 25%. The way to gauge if your stocks will surge beyond the 20% to 25% profit target is based on the momentum and trend of the market. “If we have a stock that accelerates up 25% within three weeks of our buy point, we then put in trailing stops 5% below its 5-day moving average,” says Tasca. Historically, this price action typically occurs with stocks that run up 50%, 100% or more within 8 weeks, according to professional traders.

It is important to note, when employing a trading strategy make no exceptions to your discipline and you’ll avoid damaging losses.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/sbwire-40395.htm