Mariner Investment Group Becomes Signatory To The Principles For Responsible Investment

- Also Begins Incorporating MSCI Research Ratings And Analysis Into Significant Multi-Strategy Client Mandate With Focus on Fixed Income and Long-Short Investments

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mariner Investment Group, the global alternative asset manager, today announced that it has become a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) as of August 22, 2013. Mariner also announced that it has begun to incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research, ratings, and screening tools developed by MSCI, Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, into the investment decision-making processes for one of the firm's more significant multi-strategy client mandates. Mariner is one of the first alternative asset managers to use MSCI ESG Research and analytics to analyze fixed income and long-short investments.

The United Nations-supported PRI Initiative is an international network of investors working together to put the six Principles for Responsible Investment into practice. The PRI Initiative has quickly become the leading global network for investors to publicly demonstrate their commitment to responsible investment, to collaborate and learn with their peers about the financial and investment implications of ESG issues, and to incorporate these factors into their investment decision-making and ownership practices.

"We are excited to become a signatory to PRI and consider this an important and appropriate step for our times," said Bracebridge Young, Mariner's Chief Executive Officer. "Our investors are increasingly taking into consideration the environmental, social and governance implications of their investments in portfolio allocation. While we're still in the early days, we believe that adhering to these principles and incorporating them into our investment decision-making processes will enable us to achieve better risk-adjusted returns for our clients over the longer-term."

Mariner also announced that earlier this summer it began subscribing to MSCI ESG Portfolio Analytics, a tool that enables the firm to integrate MSCI ESG Research's analyses into its investment decisions for Mariner's oldest multi-strategy client account. Previously, ESG tools had been primarily used to analyze equity positions, but MSCI ESG Research's tools will enable Mariner to analyze the ESG characteristics of its fixed income and long-short investments.

"With the assistance of MSCI ESG Research's ratings and analytics, we now have a platform that allows us to report back to clients with clarity at the position level about where particular fixed income and long-short investments fall on an ESG ratings scale," said Mr. Young. "In the past, you could consider PRI principles, but there was opacity as to how those principles actually carried out in a portfolio, particularly anything outside of equity positions. Our ability to consider ESG data as a factor in making investment decisions will enhance our processes, and we look forward to working with MSCI ESG Research to explore ways to incorporate ESG analytics and develop new products that can provide the industry with useful data intelligence."

About Mariner Investment Group, LLC
Mariner Investment Group, LLC, is an SEC registered investment adviser and manages approximately $10 billion of assets together with its associated advisers consisting of several direct and affiliated single and multi-strategy hedge funds, funds of funds and other alternative investments services. Founded in 1992, Mariner and its associated advisers employ approximately 235 people in New York, Boston, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Philadelphia, Harrison (NY) and Rowayton (CT).

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SOURCE Mariner Investment Group