Most Innovative Product: Winner

Founded in 2005 as a specialised subsidiary to Arbat Capital Management of Moscow, I2BF is a London-based international fund management group focusing on venture capital and public equity activities in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, specifically in the clean energy space.

The hedge fund arm of I2BF, launched in 2008, is the newest addition to the company. It integrates its knowledge of technology, fundamentals and quantitative methods to create what the company calls "a mixed-strategy public markets approach" to investment.

The I2BF Technology Fund aims to provide superior risk-adjusted returns in the renewable energy sector through long/short investments in listed equity securities and to do this irrespective of commodity price cycles and the changing economics of alternative energy sources.

This product is designed to give investors wider access to a rapidly growing renewable energy sector, according to the fund managers Irakli Menabde and Nicolas Merzeau.

Given the increasing pressure being placed on governments worldwide to focus on reducing their country's carbon footprints the managers believe the prospects for the clean technology sector are looking increasing favourable.

The fund managers gain competitive advantage in their interaction with the group's venture capital fund. This is a diversified clean energy investment fund, working closely with the management of companies in the sector and which has experience of investing in the clean technology space since 2005.

Menabde and Merzeau use a long/short equity investment approach with varying net long bias. The aim is to provide long-term returns greater than renewable energy benchmarks but with less volatility.

The fund's investment methodology combines quantitative, thematic and fundamental disciplines alongside an established historical track record

While the fund primarily uses continuous quantitative research to improve its investment process, the combination of the quantitative, thematic and fundamental disciplines means the managers can react swiftly to any adverse market activity by adjusting their long/short bias on a discretionary basis.

Thye add value by having proven ability to identify consistently and systematically the best relative investment opportunities within the equity universe used by the fund.  It avoids going net short as a long-term call and wants to offer investors long-biased exposure. The bias can be adjusted depending on market conditions and sector valuations.

The quantitative stock selection model covers a broad investment universe of over 300 liquid and investible equity securities and a diverse range of liquid exchange traded funds (ETFs) and derivatives.

The managers aim to reduce risk through hedging of market risks.

The technology fund saw its assets under management more than double from $10.5 million in January 2009 to $27.5 million by the end of the year. It returned 9% for investors in 2008 and 49% in 2009.

Fund facts: I2BF Technology Fund

Full name of fund: I2BF Technology Fund
Name of portfolio managers: Irakli Menabde and Nicolas Merzeau
Name of investment/management company: I2BF
Contact information: Suite 401, 1 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BD (+44 (0)20 7432 4516; www.i2bf.com)
Launch date: November 5, 2008
Assets under management: $26.5 million (at March 31, 2010)
Net cumulative performance since inception: 34.65% (at March 31, 2010)
Annualized return: 24.46% (at March 31, 2010)
Monthly standard deviation: 3.76% (data since inception) (at March 31, 2010)
Average monthly return: 2.04% (data since inception) (at March 31, 2010)
Strategy: equity long/short focused on clean energy
Administrator: Custom House Global Fund Services
Auditor: KPMG
Custodian: JP Morgan
Prime broker: Morgan Stanley
Domicile: Bahamas
Listing: on several major exchanges in the US, Europe, Japan and selected emerging markets
Management fee: 2%
Performance fee: 20%
Minimum investment: $1 million
Lock-in: none
Redemption/liquidity terms: one month's notice (31 days)