22/01/2009
France - Fitch discontinues ratings of UFG Alteram
On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings confirmed its Fund of Hedge Fund Manager rating of two minus (FoHM2-) for UFG Alteram, covering the firm’s alternative multi-management activities, and then withdrew the rating. The agency will no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage of alternative multi-management activities at the firm.Fitch lowered its rating of UFG Alteram to FoHFM2- on 17 December 2008. ?The decision reflected changes which had taken place within the management team at UFG Alteram, with the retirement of the CIO at the beginning of 2008, followed by the departure in October 2008 of the director of fund selection. The lowering of the rating also took into account increasing pressure on the profitability of the management firm, as its assets under management had declined heavily in 2008, largely due to the withdrawal of investors from its dynamic money market funds,? the agency says.?The rating continued, however, to reflect the firm’s rigorous and disciplined fund selection and portfolio management processes, operated by well-defined committees. It also represented the complete and detailed legal and operational due diligence provided by a team operating independently of management, as well as the quality of the IT platform for adoption of positions, order management, and front office operations. The support of the Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe group, the largest shareholder in the management firm, was also taken into consideration in the rating,? the agency continues.