Benchmark Plus Launches Fund, Uses Derivatives to Hedge Risk

Fund-of-hedge funds firm Benchmark Plus Management launched its latest long/short partners fund on Jan. 1. The new fund will invest with around 25 managers employing a variety of strategies, from micro-cap to sector funds, according to Robert Ferguson, a principal at the firm.

Ferguson said the new fund, as well as Benchmark's other funds, are unusual in that managers directly hedge all of their systematic exposure with derivatives. "We try to select managers that provide a return in excess of a unique benchmark that we come up with, and then we hedge that benchmark using derivatives, either options or futures," Ferguson said. "The volatility is very low because systematic risk is taken out, so we are able to reduce the risk of the portfolio much more than an average fund-of-funds could."