AIP Alternative Strategies Funds Announces the Launch of Beta Hedged Strategies Fund (Ticker: BETAX)
17 May 2006 - 1:08AM
PR Newswire (US)
AIP's Flagship Fund, Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (ALPHX), Received
a 4-Star Overall Morningstar Rating(TM)* among 45 funds in the New
Long/Short Category for the period ending 4/30/06 WHITE PLAINS,
N.Y., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- AIP Alternative Strategies Funds (AIP)
today announced that the 2nd fund in their growing family of
alternative mutual funds, the Beta Hedged Strategies Fund (Ticker:
BETAX), has officially opened to all investors. AIP is also the
advisor to the Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (Ticker: ALPHX) the
first open-end multi-strategy mutual fund to directly access
specialized hedge fund managers, which entered the ever growing
alternative space in September 2002. The success of the Alpha
Hedged Strategies Fund, and the demand in the marketplace and from
ALPHX clients, led AIP to design and launch the Beta Hedged
Strategies Fund. The Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund recently passed
the $200MM mark and received a 4-star Overall Morningstar
Rating(TM) for the 3-year period ended 4/30/06. The Alpha and Beta
Hedged Strategies Funds are open-end mutual funds designed to
minimize equity market exposure and volatility by employing a
variety of absolute return strategies. ALPHX and BETAX represent
the next generation of products for hedged alternative strategies
investing, and are open to all investors. "The Beta Hedged
Strategies Fund is simply a more aggressive mix of the managers and
strategies employed by ALPHX," noted Lee Schultheis, Chief
Investment Strategist and Co-Founder of AIP. "ALPHX has filled a
niche with advisors as an 'alternative' to fixed income; the same
advisors wanted a more 'turbo-charged' version of ALPHX to use in
lieu of an equity allocation, hence BETAX." Since inception on
September 23, 2002 through April 30, 2006 we feel ALPHX has
succeeded in providing attractive risk-adjusted returns, 8.01%
annualized return (vs. 16.23% for the S&P 500), as evidenced by
our maintaining a low beta of +0.06 (vs. 1.00 for the S&P 500),
and an annualized standard deviation of just 4.29% (vs. 14.21% for
the S&P 500). ALPHX's return for the 12 months ended 4/30/06
was 13.26%. Standardized Performance (as of 3/31/06) YTD 1YR Since
Incep* ALPHX 6.60% 9.77% 7.68% S&P 500 4.21% 11.72% 16.20% *
Annualized Performance data quoted represents past performance;
past performance 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. Current performance of the Fund may be lower
or higher than performance quoted. Most recent month-end
performance is available by calling 1-877-Low-Beta. The Funds
impose a 2.00% redemption fee for shares held than 90 calendar
days. "The financial advisor community has really warmed up to the
concept of a multi-strategy product like ours," said Schultheis.
"Now they want more choices, and so we developed and successfully
launched the Beta Hedged Strategies Fund, to meet the demand for an
alternative risk/reward profile." Beta utilizes the more aggressive
managers and strategies in higher % allocations than Alpha, and
will also use some new managers/strategies specifically designed
for Beta's higher total return target, with an allowance for a
little higher risk profile, as measured by beta and standard
deviation. "Alpha has been a favorite among advisors for their more
conservative clients, and Beta is designed to be more attractive to
the investor seeking a higher rate of return, but still reduced
risk profile vis-a-vis the market indices," noted Schultheis.
"Advisors know that they have to be able to offer conservative,
all-weather choices to their clients," Schultheis added. "By
delivering both a conservative portfolio risk profile and strong
risk-adjusted performance, Alpha Hedged Strategies has garnered
both increased media exposure, and investor interest." About the
Alpha & Beta Hedged Strategies Funds The Funds (ALPHX &
BETAX) are open-end mutual funds that invest their portfolio in a
manner similar to a conservative and more aggressive, hedge
fund-of-funds, respectively. The Funds employ a multi-manager
approach to a variety of hedged alternative investment styles, but
each with a portfolio of its own securities, using the limited
amounts of leverage and short-selling allowable in open-end mutual
funds. As multi-strategy funds, ALPHX and BETAX give their
investors exposure to a broad variety of active management in
alternative strategies including: Distressed Securities, Earnings
Revision Long/Short Equity, Momentum Long/Short Equity, REIT
Long/Short Equity, Deep Discount Value Long/Short Equity,
International Long/Short Equity, Merger Arbitrage, Fixed-Income
Arbitrage, and Convertible Bond Arbitrage. The Funds utilize the
talents of highly specialized hedge fund managers, as sub-advisors
to the Funds, in executing their alternative investment strategies.
The Funds offer the portfolio diversification benefits that
institutions, pension funds, endowments & foundations, and
high-net worth individuals have become accustomed to in hedge
funds. The Funds combine these portfolio attributes with the daily
pricing, liquidity, and other shareholder features commonly
associated with open-end mutual funds. As such, the Funds are
uniquely positioned to provide their shareholders with portfolio
diversification that goes well beyond the traditional asset classes
of stocks, bonds and cash. For more information on the Funds please
visit http://www.aipfunds.com/ or call 1-866-Low-Beta (569-2382).
Fund Disclosure The Funds' 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 Funds 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 Funds. 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 Funds. Options
held in the Funds may be illiquid and the fund manager may have
difficulty closing out a position. The Funds 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 Funds, resulting in a generally higher investment cost than
from investing directly in the underlying shares of these funds.
The Funds intend 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. * The information contained herein:
(1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or
distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or
timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are
responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this
information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar
calculates a Morningstar Rating(TM) metric each month by
subtracting the return on a 90-day U.S. Treasury Bill from the
fund's load-adjusted return for the same period, and then adjusting
this excess return for risk. The top 10% of funds in each category
receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars the next 35%
receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10%
receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating(TM) for a fund is
derived from a weighted average of the performance figures
associated with its three-, five-, and ten- year (if applicable)
Morningstar Rating(TM) metrics. The Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund
was rated against the following numbers of U.S. domiciled
Long-Short funds over the following time periods: 45 funds in the
last three years. With respect to these Long-Short funds, Alpha
Hedged Strategies Fund received a Morningstar Rating(TM) of 4-Stars
for the three-year period ending 4/30/06. ** Morningstar defines
Long-Short as: a fund with roughly 20% their total net assets in
short positions. Mutual fund investing involves risk; loss of
principal is possible. Please consult an investment professional
for advice regarding your particular circumstances. An investment
in the Funds may not be suitable for all investors. Beta is a
quantitative measure of the volatility of a given stock, mutual
fund, or portfolio, relative to the overall market, usually the
S&P 500. A beta above 1 is generally more volatile than the
overall market, while a beta below 1 is generally less volatile.
Standard Deviation is a statistical measure of the historical
volatility of a mutual fund or portfolio, using daily net asset
value returns. The S&P 500 Index is a broad based unmanaged
index of 500 stocks, which is widely recognized as representative
of the equity market in general. You cannot invest directly in an
index. Quasar Distributors, LLC, Distributor - 5/06 DATASOURCE: AIP
Alternative Strategies Funds CONTACT: Jennifer Connelly of JC
Public Relations for AIP Alternative Strategies Funds,
+1-908-813-2478, Web site: http://www.aipfunds.com/
Copyright