08/09/2010 Author: Elana Margulies

Veda Fund to add new managed account

Veda Asset Management, an India-dedicated alternative investment manager based in New York, will add its seventh managed account next month to its Veda Multi-strategy India Fund.

The upcoming managed account is a systematic market neutral strategy that trades equities and equity options volatility and is 100% India-focused.

Ridaa Murad, managing member, said Veda decided to set up the latest managed account as its performance was high compared to the relative risk it took on to generate the returns.

“The manager’s returns are uncorrelated with the index returns and with my current portfolio’s returns,” he said. “If we have a higher allocation to low-risk strategies, it frees my hand to put a small allocation in much higher volatility strategies.”

Typically, Veda’s offering, which launched in September 2008, allocates 10% of its assets under management to a managed account.

Prior to launching Veda, Murad worked at Bear Stearns as a product manager of Indian equity and equity-linked products from 2003-2008. Before that, he worked at Cross Border Enterprises, a private equity firm.

The fund has a $1m investment minimum for institutions, and $250,000 for individuals. Both classes have a one-year lock-up followed by quarterly liquidity with 30 days’ notice. It has 1/10 fees. In October, Veda will create a third share class with no lock-ups and a $2m investment minimum for institutions and $500,000 minimum for individuals.

The fund is up 0.7% YTD through July. Last year it was up 33% and in 2008, it was down 25%.