Magnum has launched a new India fund of funds. The Magnum India Fund hopes to provide diversified exposure to India, investing with approximately 9-12 different hedge fund managers across a range of strategies and industry sectors. The strategies include long/short large-cap and mid-cap equity, long-only small-cap equity and PIPES, event-driven/risk arbitrage, multi-strategy arbitrage, and distressed debt. The broad-based exposure seeks to minimise volatility, while capturing the upside of India's growth opportunities. A Master Fund in which the fund invests, has produced returns of 40% since inception in November 2006, with standard deviation of 12% and beta of 0.45%. Magnum has deferred the manager selection on India focused funds to a third party firm (Sub-Manager) that is focused exclusively on selecting India focused funds. The fund takes advantage of the Sub-Manager’s deep experience investing in India and strong relationships with India-focused managers.   more »

Pandit's Old Lane, Oz Management push up number of new FIIs by 123. Some of the world’s top hedge funds have been granted direct entry into the Indian stock markets, nearly three months after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) imposed curbs on foreign investments through the participatory note (P-note) route. Since the curb, the number of FIIs in India has swelled by 123 to 1,248. The funds include Vikram Pandit-founded Old Lane LP, which was acquired by Citigroup early last year, and Oz Management, which is ranked among the world’s 20 largest hedge funds. While putting the restrictions, Sebi had asked the funds to invest in the Indian market directly by getting themselves registered as foreign institutional investors (FII).   more »