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LONDON (Standard & Poor's) Sept. 1, 2008--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
said today that it assigned its 'AAAf' fund credit quality rating and 'S1+'
fund volatility rating to four Luxembourg-domiciled and one Jersey-domiciled
enhanced cash funds offered by Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (LODH)(not rated).
Comprising of three different umbrella funds, these five subfunds form
part of the new money market fund range offered by the Geneva-based private
wealth manager, LODH. LODH Invest is an umbrella fund, which has been
established under Luxembourg law, and is authorized as Undertakings for
Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) pursuant to the
European Community's regulations. LODH Horizon is also an umbrella fund, which
has been established under part II of 2002 Luxembourg law, and is authorized
as Undertakings for Collective Investment (UCI). LODH Obliflex is an
open-ended investment company incorporated in Jersey.
The fund credit quality and fund volatility ratings have been assigned to
the following funds:
-- LODH Horizon – The Money Market Fund (EUR)
-- LODH Invest – The Money Market Fund (EUR)
-- LODH Horizon – The Money Market Fund (USD)
-- LODH Invest – The Money Market Fund (USD)
-- LODH Obliflex – The Money Market Fund (CHF)
The 'AAAf' rating assigned signifies the extremely strong protection that
the five subfund's portfolios provide against losses from credit defaults, and
is based on our analysis of the credit quality of the portfolios eligible
investments, the counterparties, and overall management by the portfolio's
investment managers. As part of our volatility analysis, we assessed the
management, portfolio-level risk, target durations, and comparable return
strategies of the subfunds' portfolios. The 'S1+' volatility rating signifies
that the five subfunds are expected to demonstrate an extremely low
sensitivity to changing market conditions, and a level of risk that is less
than or equal to that of a portfolio comprised of the highest-quality
fixed-income instruments with an average maturity of one year or less.
Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch has delegated the investment management to
London and Zurich-based Credit Suisse Asset Management Ltd. (not rated). The
experienced management teams based in London and Zurich are responsible for
the day-to-day management of approximately $40 billion of fixed income assets.
The investment objective of the five rated subfunds is to achieve high and
steady earnings within the individual subfunds while taking account of
security of capital, stable value, and high liquidity. To achieve this
objective, the subfunds will invest in a diversified portfolio of high-quality
money market instruments (particularly treasury notes, certificates of
deposit, and commercial paper) and longer dated fixed-income securities with
maturities not exceeding three years for floating rate notes. All assets will
be invested in securities, or with counterparties rated a minimum of 'A-1' by
Standard & Poor's, or deemed to be of equivalent credit quality.
Credit risk will be limited by focusing on high-credit quality names, and
the portfolios will be managed so as to maintain a credit profile consistent
with a 'AAAf' fund credit quality rating. The subfunds will be targeting
returns in excess of the Citigroup one-month deposit index expressed in their
respective base currencies. By restricting the weighted average maturity to a
maximum of 120 days, it will control the subfunds' interest rate risk.
CACEIS Bank (Lux), a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Agricole S.A.
(AA-/Stable/A-1+), has been appointed as custodian, and administrator for the
Luxembourg-domiciled funds, while the custodian for the Jersey-domiciled LODH
Obliflex – The Money Market Fund (CHF) has been delegated to Royal Bank of
Canada (Channel Islands) Ltd.--Jersey Branch and LODH (Jersey) Ltd. will
perform all administrative duties that arise in connection with the
administration of the fund.
Standard & Poor's will review pertinent fund information and portfolio
holding reports on a monthly basis, as part of its surveillance process.
Ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the
real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and
risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. It can also be found on Standard &
Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred
country or region, then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Credit
Ratings Search. Alternatively, call one of the following Standard & Poor's
numbers: Client Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office (44)
20-7176-3605; Paris (33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; Stockholm
(46) 8-440-5914; or Moscow (7) 495-783-4017.
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