UK – Index provider FTSE Group has confirmed that it plans to launch a hedge fund product.

It said it would launch an index of hedge funds in April dubbed FTSE Hedge. The move was “designed to bring more clarity to this asset class, and will allow investors to more easily understand and follow the performance of hedge funds”.

FTSE will license fund managers to create funds based on the index.

The index will be calculated on a daily basis and will comprise 40 funds. Due diligence will be done by hedge fund consultant Harcourt Investment Consulting.

“FTSE Hedge will bring greater clarity and transparency to the hedge fund market,” said FTSE chief executive Mark Makepeace. It will help investors understand and analyse hedge funds and their performance with much greater confidence.”

The list of constituent hedge funds to be included in FTSE Hedge will be available in April when the index is introduced.

FTSE, co-owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange, said in January that it was looking at developing an investable hedge fund index.

FTSE’s rivals Standard & Poor’s and MSCI already offer similar products. And outfits such as Hedge Fund Research launched and CSFB/Tremont unveiled investable hedge fund indices last year.

Asset manager MSS Capital said that later this month it aims to launch the FTSEhx Fund SPC. Its constituents will form the basis of the newly announced FTSE Hedge index series.

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