Lighthouse Investment Partners
Lighthouse Investment Partners, LLC (“Lighthouse”) originally operated as the investment group within a Florida-based multi-family office that was founded in 1987. The Lighthouse Diversified Fund was initially created for wealthy individuals in need of an alternative to their fixed-income portfolio.
In 1999, Lighthouse’s predecessor entity (Lighthouse Partners, L.L.C.) spun out of the multi-family office to operate as a stand-alone business; at the time of the spin-out, the clients of the multi-family office remained Lighthouse investors. In March 2001, SunTrust Banks, Inc. (“SunTrust”), one of the largest commercial banks in the United States, acquired a majority interest in Lighthouse with employees retaining the balance of ownership.
From 2001 until March 2007, based on performance objectives, Lighthouse senior management acquired additional interests in the management company from SunTrust, reaching 75.1%. On January 2, 2008, Lighthouse merged with HFA Holdings Ltd. (“HFA”). As part of the merger with HFA, SunTrust sold its interest in Lighthouse; however its clients continued to be invested in Lighthouse funds. Prior to forming Lighthouse, five current Lighthouse team members had worked together at Trout Trading Management Company (“Trout”), a world renowned hedge fund, managing a portfolio of third-party hedge funds. Other senior employees have been drawn to Lighthouse based on its strong reputation in the marketplace from hedge fund managers, peer fund of hedge funds,investors and service providers alike.
Over the years, Lighthouse and its funds have won a number of industry awards. The Lighthouse Diversified Fund won the 2002 Best Fund of Funds award by InvestHedge. The Lighthouse Credit Opportunities Fund won the 2005 Best Single-Strategy Fund of Funds by MARHedge as well as the 2006 and 2010 InvestHedge award for Fund of the Year in the Fixed Income and Credit category. The Lighthouse Diversified Fund won the 2007 Fund Manager of the Year (Fund of Funds) award by Professional Pensions.
Marshall Wace GaveKal Asia Limited
Marshall Wace GaveKal Asia Limited (‘MWG’) manages a series of long only funds and fundamentally-driven long/short equity products focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.
MWG is incorporated in Hong Kong, and is a joint venture between Marshall Wace LLP (‘Marshall Wace’) and GaveKal Holdings Limited (‘GaveKal’). This joint venture brings together GaveKal’s knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region alongside the innovative product design, portfolio construction and disciplined risk management processes of Marshall Wace.
In managing the MWG Fund and identifying the underlying positions for the portfolio, the expertise of Marshall Wace and GaveKal combine to provide significant investment analysis and identification capabilities. GaveKal conducts rigorous analysis of global themes and country fundamentals, together with quantitative screening of the universe of companies, sectors and their specific growth drivers. This research is coupled with over 800 company visits annually, and the analysis conducted by Marshall Wace of information collected on international equities from over 2,500 contributors globally, of which 743 are based in Asia.
Threadneedle Investments
Threadneedle is a leading international investment manager with a strong track record of outperformance across asset classes. Threadneedle actively manages US$110bn (as at end March 2011) of assets, investing on behalf of individuals, pension funds, insurers and corporations. Established in 1994 in London, Threadneedle operates in 15 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America.
Threadneedle’s distinctive investment approach is based on creative thinking, sharing of ideas and rigorous debate. Its 120 investment professionals invest across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, commodities and UK property.
Threadneedle is owned by Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP), a leading US diversified financial services company with US$693bn (as at end March 2011) in owned, managed and administered assets. As its international investment platform, Threadneedle provides Ameriprise and its retail and institutional clients with world class investment solutions.