MIDAS Fund grows to $90 Million AUM

-- Lauder Family Office latest investor in UCM Partners Mortgage-focused Vehicle

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The UCM Partners MIDAS Fund opened 2013 with a significant new investment from the Lauder Family Office, bringing assets under management above $90 million for the open-ended fund, which invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities (RMBS and CMBS) and in other asset-backed securities (ABS).

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UCM Partners, a private, minority-owned fixed income investment manager with more than $1 billion in assets under management, specializes in the management of portfolios with a mortgage focus. The firm's flagship MIDAS Fund finished 2012 with a 25% return for the year and has returned 34% since its 4/1/2011 inception (returns net of fees).   

Greg Parsons, UCM's Chief Executive Officer says, "We are thrilled with the Lauder investment and believe that our investment team's skill set, size, and experience make it uniquely positioned to take full advantage of the opportunity that will continue to exist in the mortgage space for the next several years."  

The Fund invests in RMBS, CMBS and ABS across the capital structure and credit quality spectra and is managed by Chief Investment Officer, Jay Menozzi, CFA, and by portfolio managers Boris Peresechensky, CFA and Vesta Marks, CFA. The investment team combines rigorous quantitative analysis, including bottom-up, loan-level credit analysis and structural stress-testing with qualitative analysis that leverages the team's 20+ years of experience in the structured credit market.  The UCM team remains upbeat about prospects for the non-agency sector of the mortgage market on a forward-looking basis.

"Given improving cash-flow fundamentals and declining supply, we expect upward pressure on Non-Agency RMBS prices to continue until demand subsides," said Menozzi. "A slackening of demand does not look imminent based on attractive spreads, growing market participation, and significant investor concern with the negative real returns being delivered by other fixed-income sectors."

About UCM Partners
Founded in 1992, UCM Partners is an MBE certified and SEC registered investment advisor specializing in structured credit securities. UCM currently manages more than $1.0 billion of assets and offers a wide array of investment solutions for institutional and wealth management investors, ranging from index-based to absolute return and hedge fund strategies. UCM's track record in dedicated structured credit portfolio management extends over 10 years. Headquartered in New York City, the firm also has offices in Orlando and Philadelphia. For more information, please visit www.ucmpartners.com.

UCM Partners is pleased to announce Stephen J Burke has joined our team as a Managing Director. Stephen is responsible for the expansion of assets, particularly in the hedge fund strategies. Stephen previously served as a Managing Director and Director of Sales and Marketing/Business Development at CDK Group.  He also was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Dunbar Capital Management.  He received his AB from Princeton University. 

Contact:
Stephen J Burke
+1-212-612-9104
sburke@ucmpartners.com