HFA statement on US sub-prime mortgage market
August 22nd, 2007
Since the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market we have been quietly trying to obtain an official statement from HFA as to their exposure to this investment.
We had been told some time ago that they were short this position, but we have been waiting for an official announcement to confirm this. It has occurred today: please refer to the press release from HFA below.
The good news is that HFA will profit from this downturn and as such the returns with in their investments will be strong, while other funds of this nature suffer.
If there are any questions please do not hesitate to contact your adviser.
Graeme Currie
Director
North West Financial Services (Qld) Pty Ltd
HFA funds have net short position on sub-prime market
10:59, Thursday, August 16, 2007
Sydney: (RWE Aust Business News) &ndahs; In light of recent events in the global financial markets and the ensuing contraction in global liquidity, HFA Holdings (ASX:HFA) has clarified the position of funds managed by its subsidiary, HFA Asset Management.
This is to clearly articulate HFA's exposure to US sub-prime and CDO (collateralised debt obligations) across its range of funds.
HFA is an absolute return fund of fund provider with in excess of $3.8 billion in assets under management.
"The US sub-prime collapse comes as no surprise to HFA," it said."Investors and advisers who have attended any of our investment briefings over the past 2 years will be well aware that HFA's chief investment strategist Jonathan Pain has been warning of the imminent collapse of the sub-prime market for some time.
"To that end our portfolios have been positioned in anticipation for the current US sub-prime situation."
HFA's exposure is a net short position. The HFA International Shares Fund, HFA Accelerator Plus, HFA Partners Fund and the HFA Octane Fund series either have no exposure or hold net short positions to the US sub-prime market and have also benefited from the current difficulties within this sector.
"The scale and magnitude of the recent events in the financial markets are rare and our historical experience is that when events like this do occur they typically provide a strong set of investment opportunities for our fund managers," HFA said.
"To this extent we believe the current market conditions are highly conducive to for our fund managers to deliver strong risk adjusted returns over the next 12 to 18 month period."
HFA shares were up 24c to $1.89.