The firm’s second offering is the BlackRock Australian Equity Absolute Return Fund which feeds into its existing Australian Equity Market Neutral Fund.  Fees are also 0.3/30.

Limited sponsorship opportunities are available on a first-come first served basis. Email contact “at” basispoint.com.au.

Five Oceans Asset Management has been selected to run SIG’s US$350 million global equity fund, while MIR Investment Management has been appointed a sub-advisor to SIG’s US$363 million Greater China Equity Fund.

Five Oceans is a long-biased, high conviction global equities manager, part-owned and supported by Challenger.  MIR is a $1 billion long-only value/quant manager with international offices/joint venture teams in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

SIG is the $20 billion investment management business of UK based Old Mutual.  It has more than 100 mandates to external managers, and investments in a similar number of funds.   James Millard is SIG’s CIO, while Adam Smears is head of investment research.

Details at…

“ASIC releases draft disclosure guidance for hedge funds”

The Brisbane based firm has $180 million AuM in a range of private equity, hedge, real estate and commodities (water) funds.  The firm is capitalised at $32 million and reported net profits after tax of $3.5 million in the year to June 2011.   The IPO funds will be deployed as regulatory capital/cash reserves and to fund business expansion.   The firm recently appointed GT Capital Access partner Debra Goundrey as global head of client relationships to work from its new US office, according to Brisbane Times.

BLA’s directors, staff and related parties will retain over 65 percent of shares on issue.  Founder/MD Mark Sowerby holds a 33 percent stake.

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Ernst & Young’s 2011 Global Hedge Fund Symposium is to take place on 30 November in Sydney.  John Brogden, CEO of the Financial Services Council, will make the keynote address. Mark OSullivan, a Partner at E&Y will host the event.  For details, please contact: Lourdes Arteaga on 61 2 8295 6759.

There are quite a few Hedge Fund events happening in Australia during the early months of 2012.

The ASX is hosting an Institutional speaking tour by the United States Options Industry Council (OIC). Mr Phil Gocke, OIC Managing Director, will deliver a series of seminars for Institutional Investors in Melbourne and Sydney, showcasing recent OIC institutional research and providing an overview of the US market and new product developments.

The Melbourne seminars are on Tuesday 28 February 2012.

The Sydney seminars are on Thursday 1 March 2012.

For further information please go to

http://www.asx.com.au/instoptions

The first proposed measure, called the Investment Manager Regime (IMR) ‘conduit income measure,’ will effectively exempt offshore investors in Australian managed, foreign domiciled hedge funds, from revenue gains and capital gains arising from certain portfolio investments from the 2010/11 income year.

The second measure, called ‘FIN 48’, will prevent assessment of such revenue (but not capital) gains for the 2010/11 and earlier income years, subject to conditions.

At present, such gains might be taxable in Australia because the foreign investor is treated, pursuant to a double tax treaty, as having a permanent establishment in Australia as a result of having engaged an Australian based investment manager.

If the legislation is enacted, Australian hedge fund managers may not need to establish offshore funds in order to attract foreign investors, according to Bourke.