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10 Nov 2008

OTC Hires European Hedge Fund Manager

OTC Valuations Limited, provider of independent derivatives valuation and risk reports for illiquid and hard-to-value securities, structured products, and exotic derivatives, has strengthened its team with the appointment of Dr. Paul Bergbusch to lead the organization’s technology function.

Paul comes to the OTC Val team from BlueCrest Capital Management, one of the largest hedge funds in Europe, he joins OTC Val as Chief Technology Officer, and will lead the effort to introduce the next generation of solutions further expanding the coverage for structured products and exotic derivatives under the OTC Val portfolio.

As an expert in financial derivatives and systems engineering, Dr. Bergbusch brings a wealth of data analysis, derivatives modeling and systems development experience for pricing and processing all derivatives products. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Particle Physics from the University of British Columbia.

"Before joining OTC Val I reviewed the market for independent derivatives valuations and realized that structured products and exotic derivatives are not being handled in a transparent and scalable way," Paul Bergbusch said, "The recent market turmoil and the push towards increasing regulation of the derivatives markets highlight the need for independent and transparent pricing."

Bob Sangha, COO, OTC Val, commented, "The fact that Paul joined OTC Val is also a great compliment to our service offering. His deep knowledge of data, models, and systems will enable OTC Val to deliver flexible and responsive solutions."

CNBC Arabiya Re-Launches With New Hedge Fund Programming Included

CNBC Arabiya is dedicating programming to arenas such as women in business, the environment, hedge funds and private equity, as the station moves to a more creative and interactive program schedule.

"We are experiencing an era of economic change for businesses, markets and funds in the Middle East." says Steven F. Hall, CEO, CNBC Arabiya. As the first show of its kind for CNBC Arabiya, a show called "Ma'ahonna" highlights and celebrates successful women within the GCC and Arab business arena. It includes interviews, profiles, insight and commentary through one-on-one interviews.

"Bil Akhdar" focuses on environmental issues impacting the business world, green industry, new sustainable initiatives and companies spearheading the green movement.

"Salat Al Bada'ael" reports the latest news on buyouts, venture capital, hedge funds and growth capital affecting the world of finance. The weekly show, Wednesdays at 8pm (KSA time), discusses the most pressing issues affecting the private equity marketplace.

There are also new shows on Shari'a-Compliant Finance and regulatory issues related to the various Securities & Commodities Authorities. Along with a new programming schedule, the CNBC Arabiya re-launch reveals a brand new studio layout with more capacity for live links. The re-designed CNBC Arabiya website will act as a genuine financial portal to cover stock markets, news alerts and breaking business news.

"CNBC Arabiya is the leader in Middle East business news and reaches over 50 million households through ArabSat & NileSat. We also encourage more viewer-led content via, our upcoming revamped website, and calls to our studios," says Mohammad Abdullah, CNBC Arabiya Executive Vice President.

Hedge Fund Brotman Capital Shows Top Performance

Brotman Capital Partners LP, based in Boca Raton, Florida, has turned in the best performance Year to Date of a Market/Trend Timing Hedge Fund according to Barclays Hedge Fund Database.

Through October, 2008 the Fund is up over 14% net of fees. According to Dr. Randy Brotman, Chairman and CEO, the fund has remained in cash since the middle of August.

He states that “in our Trend Timing Fund, cash is an option, therefore a position.”
The Proprietary Trend Timing Model that Brotman Capital Management LLC employs dictates when the Fund should be long, short or in cash. “Be are comfortable to sit on the sidelines and wait for the trend-timing model to tell us when we will reenter the market, Brottman concluded.

The fund has a $100,000 minimum investment and charges a 2% management fee and a 20% incentive fee.