Best Convertible Arbitrage/Volatility Hedge Fund: Winner

Best Fixed Income Hedge Fund: Shortlisted

The mandate of the CQS Asia Feeder Fund is to follow convertible bond arbitrage, quantitative equity, equity, credit and fixed income trading strategies using fundamental credit and equity research combined with quantitative analysis.

The named managers of the Asia fund are CEO and senior investment officer Michael Hintze and Jean-Christophe Blanc. Both are able to draw on the worldwide expertise and experience of the CQS group.

Launched in May 2007 the fund is geographically focused on Asia and has produced an average annualised return of 5.1% since inception.

The fund looks for thematic opportunities in the region. For 2010 the managers say they will be especially focused on opportunities in the commodity, consumer, energy and trade related equity sectors as well as in currencies.

They expect good opportunities to exploit these themes and to capture alpha in Asian convertibles. Both expect market volatility to continue to provide a fertile environment for the fund.

CQS, a global diversified asset management group, has a family of hedge funds, among interests in credit and long only funds. It has assets under management of $6.7 billion.

The group believes investment success is the result of four complementary aspects: detailed research, an experienced and proven investment team, a collaborative investment process and the support of a robust operational and risk management platform.

Its philosophy is to invest in strategies offer the most attractive risk-adjusted returns. It follows a process based on a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach focused on fundamental research, quantitative analysis and investment expertise.

To support this process, the group invests extensively in its risk management platform, operational infrastructure and margin and liability management framework.

All these elements lie at the core of the CQS investment platforms and activities and is used by the group to mitigate operational risk.

CQS was founded in 1999 by Michael Hintze who has built the group around investment professionals, including research specialists in fundamental and quantitative analysis, and investment specialists in equities, credit, fixed income, volatility and derivatives.

The research and investment teams collaborate in the running of client portfolios from trading rooms in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Supporting the investment management process, CQS has a robust asset management infrastructure platform with experienced professionals working in, among other areas, liability and margin management, risk management, operations, investor relations, legal, compliance, finance and information technology.

The senior executives meet regularly as an executive committee, supported by the CQS global advisory forum. This consists of experienced professionals from a broad spectrum of backgrounds such as businessmen, academics and former regulators. It also meets on a regular basis to review the company's business and strategy.

Fund facts: CQS Asia Feeder Fund

Full name of fund: CQS Asia Feeder Fund
Portfolio manager(s): Michael Hintze and Jean-Christophe Blanc
Investment manager: CQS (UK)
Contact: Michael Rummel, 33 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7HY (+44 (0)20 7201 6900; michael.rummel@cqsm.com)
Launch date: 2007
Portfolio size: $160 million
Strategy: convertible bond arbitrage
Average annualised return: 5.1% (at March 31, 2010)
Average annualised volatility: 10.18% (at March 31, 2010)
Sharpe ratio: 2.94
Share classes: US dollar, sterling and euro
Administrator: JP Morgan Hedge Fund Services
Auditor: Ernst & Young
Custodian/prime broker: multiple
Management fee: 2%
Performance fee: 20%
Minimum investment: $100,000
Redemption period: monthly with 90 days' notice.