Hedge fund database donated to center

Zurich Capital Markets makes record gift-in-kind

by Lou Wigdor, special to the Chronicle

he Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM) has received a multi-million dollar gift of the Zurich Alternative Investment Performance Databases from Zurich Capital Markets (ZCM), an international leader in the alternative asset management industry. The donation is the largest gift of its kind in the University's history and is an integral addition to CISDM's role as the premier university research center for the study of alternative investments.

     The Zurich Capital Markets Database will be renamed the CISDM Database and will continue to be listed monthly in MarHedge, a publication of Metal Bulletin LLC. The database, which tracks the performance of hedge funds, commodity trading advisors, and managed futures funds, lists current performance for almost 2,500 entities, with performance dating to the early 1970s. It also holds records of several thousand other alternative investment vehicles that have either gone out of business or ceased public reporting of their performance.

     "Having the database in the hands of the center seems like its logical place, especially with the progress and breakthroughs that are ongoing in the industry," noted Stephen Sinacore, ZCM's chief executive officer. "We are proud to play a role in supporting the ongoing growth of study in this area." Zurich Capital Markets, a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group, is one of the world's premier alternative asset management firms and a leading provider of innovative financial products and services.

     CISDM's relationship with ZCM includes previous work by faculty members and industry specialists on the creation of its Hedge Fund Indices. "This is a tremendous opportunity for our center and the University ... ," observed CISDM director Thomas Schneeweis, who is Michael and Cheryl Philipp Professor of Finance at the Isenberg School of Management. "The gift builds impressively on CISDM's extensive research in alternative investments and on its educational relationship with the alternative investments industry," he said.

     A non-profit academic research center at the Isenberg School, CISDM focuses on security and investment fund performance in both U.S. and international asset markets. CISDM's goals are to facilitate research in both traditional and alternative investment markets, to promote interactions between the academic and business communities, and to make available educational material on international financial markets to financial and non-financial firms. The center is home to the Journal of Alternative Investments, distributed internationally by Institutional Investor.

Lou Wigdor is director of Communications at the Isenberg School of Management