Ramius FoHF targets trading strategies

Ramius has launched a multi-manager fund of hedge funds (FoHF) that will invest primarily in managed futures and global macro strategies through a managed account platform.

The FoHF, known as the RTS Global Fund, will be managed by the newly formed Ramius Trading Strategies group, which is part of Ramius Alternative Solutions.

Ramius, founded in 1994 by a group of ex-bankers led by Peter Cohen and Jeffrey Solomon, merged with the investment bank Cowen Group in 2009.

Ramius Trading Strategies is headed by William Marr. He was formerly global head of hedge fund research and portfolio construction at Merrill Lynch, where he ran the bank's multi-manager alternative investment products.

At Merrill Lynch, Marr was responsible for the launch of Systematic Momentum FuturesAccess, a managed futures fund of fund which grew to $800 million.

The Ramius Trading Strategies team includes Alexander Rudin and Nadine Haidar, who previously worked with Marr at Merrill Lynch. Rudin will be responsible for investment research for the group, while Haidar was named as head of due diligence.

Ramius has made a seed investment in the RTS Global Fund and is providing infrastructure support to the group.

Marr described the RTS Global Fund as "a concentrated single strategy, multi-manager portfolio trading across roughly 250 markets."

"With no structural long biases in any asset class, no requirement for access to borrowed capital, active, trading-oriented portfolio management and access to outstanding managers, we believe the strategy reduces structural and indirect risks for clients while presenting a compelling investment opportunity," he said.

Peter Cohen, chairman and CEO of Ramius, highlighted the benefits of investing through a managed account platform.

"The financial crisis had many lessons for the hedge fund industry and one of the most important is that investors are demanding more control of assets, better liquidity nd significant, daily transparency," he said.

Cohen said the RTS platform "delivers significant liquidity safeguards, has 100% position level transparency and daily risk attribution and NAV estimate reporting for clients."