UFG launches $15m hedge fund

UFG Asset Management, an offshoot of one of Moscow's biggest finance houses, launched a new hedge fund to invest in local and foreign-listed Russian stock, the fund said on Tuesday. "The Russia Select fund has been launched with $15 million raised from investors associated with UFG," the management company said in a statement.

United Financial Group (UFG) is one of Moscow's oldest brokerages. The fund is managed by Florian Fenner, formerly with Unifund and Brunswick Capital Management, and Ari Krel, a former UFG analyst. "What differentiates our fund from most other Russia funds is the ability to go for more aggressive returns via the use of short sales and leverage," Krel said. "We believe this is a highly appropriate strategy for a market which throws up as much volatility and opportunity as Russia," the Russia Journal reported.