Headstart Advisers' Limestone Wider Russia Fund Maintains Top Quartile Status in 2010

LONDON, January 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

(Not for Release in the United States of America)

The Limestone Wider Russia fund run by Headstart Advisers Ltd and Headstart's CIO, Najy Nasser, maintained its top tier status after another strong return of 40.91% in 2010, outperforming the Russian equity index by 17.70%, after the fund returned 165.41% in 2009.

With Russia on the verge of inclusion by the World Trade Organisation, after a wait of almost 19 years, oil production hitting post-Soviet highs of 10.14mln bpd and the exciting news that Russia will play host to both the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the FIFA World Cup in 2018, there are many compelling reasons for being invested in the Russian equity market.

Russia has always been highly correlated with oil and commodity prices. Whilst commodity revenues make up a significant and important proportion of GDP with increasing commodity prices, Russia's position on the global stage is continually strengthening. Russia's geographic proximity to China highlights this importance and whilst the commodity export play is important there remains enormous value within the economy focusing on the consumer and internal infrastructure. This is coupled with the fact that Russian companies trade on attractive valuations both on an absolute basis, with a forward P/E of just 7.39, and a relative basis against both developed and emerging market peers, whilst offering significant growth.

Headstart Advisers' CIO, Najy Nasser, commented: "After catching the bounce in the Russian equity market in 2009 we are pleased that we continued our outperformance in 2010. The Russian market is currently an area that presents an abundance of opportunities that should be considered for part of a diversified portfolio where appropriate.

"The recent move by PepsiCo to take over Wimm-Bill-Dann, the Russian drinks producer, and the strategic partnership between BP and Rosneft, highlight the importance that Russia will play going forward in the global marketplace.

"With the announcement that Russia will host the FIFA World Cup in 2018, there is now a clear catalyst that has propelled Russia into the global limelight. To be ready in time, there will have to be an unprecedented spending spree put into place as infrastructure around the country requires upgrading. Initial estimates are that spending will be in excess of US$20bn, far surpassing expenditure in South Africa or Brazil. This could be the catalyst that signals a prosperous period for the Russian economy.

"Russian companies offer the best value in terms of Price to Earnings ratio of all the BRIC countries. In 2010, Russia was largely overlooked when the vast majority of international capital that flowed into the Emerging Markets went to Brazil, India and China. This trend has now started to reverse."

Disclaimer:

Headstart Advisers Ltd is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority under the

Financial Services & Markets Act 2000. This press release does not constitute financial advice or an offer or invitation to apply for investment in the Fund.

Notes to editors about Headstart Advisers

Headstart Advisers Ltd is a financial services company incorporated in 1990, authorised and regulated by the FSA as an investment advisor to the Headstart family of hedge funds (within Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Legislation and so subject to investment restrictions as set out more fully on its Website). It advises four hedge funds and a fund of hedge funds with the common mandate of superior returns with lower volatility (risk).

The Company recently published three press releases: Headstart Fund of Funds Advances to the Top; Headstart Cautiously Optimistic about 2011 and Headstart Launches Global Emerging Markets Fund, all of which can be found on its website http://www.headstartadvisers.com.

The directors of Headstart Advisers Ltd are Najy Nasser and Henry Watkinson. The firm has its office in Chelsea Harbour, London.

    
    External PR advisers to Headstart Advisers

    Adrian Flook
    M:Communications
    +44-(0)20-7920-2388

    Headstart Advisers
    Najy Nasser
    Chief Investment Officer
    +44-(0)20-7376-5437