ZUG, Switzerland/EWORLDWIRE/Sep. 4, 2008 --- Gardner Finance AG (Gardner) reports that the Gardner Energy MacroIndex(TM) (GEMI(TM)), an Index which tracks actively the performance of energy hedge funds across a number of carefully selected strategies lost 5.78 percent in July, 2008. "While all sectors contributed negatively to the performance, the largest losses were incurred by Energy Relative Value Trading programs," said Mr. Michael Laznicka, president of Gardner Finance AG. "Strong price and spread reversals of historic magnitude in the majority of commodities in general and in energy and power markets specifically adversely impacted the universe of commodity focused investment programs. In addition, fundamental long/short equity and equity market neutral programs faced highly correlated and volatile price moves, which were mainly driven by macro themes and forced selling instead of company fundamentals."
Other Gardner MacroIndexes also reflected the difficult month that July proved to be for hedge fund managers across the commodity investment space. The Gardner Commodity MacroIndex (GCMI) was off 8.09 percent, the Gardner Agriculture Livestock MacroIndex (GALMI) was down 3.77 percent, the Gardner Minerals Metals MacroIndex (GMMI) was down 6.91 percent, the Gardner Green MacroIndex (GGMI) was off 3.11 percent, the Gardner Power MacroIndex (GPMI) off 2.37 percent and the Gardner Shipping MacroIndex (GSMI) down by 2.25 percent.
Gardner MacroIndex July YTD
Gardner Energy MacroIndex (GEMI) -5.78% -2.57%
Gardner Commodity MacroIndex (GCMI) -8.09% 2.03%
Gardner Agriculture Livestock MacroIndex (GALMI) -3.77% 3.15%
Gardner Minerals Metals MacroIndex (GMMI) -6.91% -2.21%
Gardner Green MacroIndex (GGMI) -3.11% -9.05%
Gardner Power MacroIndex (GPMI) -2.37% 4.01%
Gardner Shipping MacroIndex (GSMI) -2.25% 0.89%
About GEMI
Energy is the cornerstone of modern life and offers immense investment potential. For this reason, Gardner Finance has developed the Gardner Energy MacroIndex (GEMI). Its aim is to cover the entire value chain of energy generation. The GEMI Index is unique to the market place as no other active hedge fund performance index product has such a strategy or composition. Its objective is to provide investors with a macro view on global energy markets by looking at the performance of selected investment vehicles belonging to the investment class "Energy Hedge Funds." Objective criteria, arranged in a proprietary selection matrix, are applied in selecting the energy hedge funds to be included in the Index as components. The Index includes components representative of a careful hypothetical investment in the investment class "Energy Hedge Funds" to make it suitable for use as a benchmark by investors in international energy markets. More information on GEMI can be obtained at 'http://www.macroindex.com'.
About Gardner Finance AG
Gardner Finance has a strong history of providing its clients with innovative financial solution platforms that cover a wide range of financial industry products in the commodity trading, public/private equity and public/private debt markets. Gardner Finance AG focuses on and is a recognized specialist in the natural resources investment sector where it employs its extensive knowledge of commodity investment products in the energy, agriculture, metals and materials sub-sectors. Gardner's objective is to enable a comprehensive exposure to the commodity sector with its MacroIndex family of Indices whilst simultaneously smoothing out the inherent volatility and cyclical nature of these markets.
To learn more about Gardner Finance AG and its products, visit 'http://www.gardner.ch' and 'http://www.macroindex.com'.
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