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Ramius Alternative Solutions LLC

About Ramius Alternative Solutions LLC

Ramius Alternative Solutions (Ramius) is part of Ramius LLC, an experienced global alternative asset management business with assets under management of US$9 billion (as at 31 March 2011). It operates multi and single strategy hedge funds, fund of hedge funds and private real estate funds. Its three founders each have over 40 years of experience and all previously ran major Wall Street securities franchises. It has a history of long-standing collaborative relationships with sophisticated institutional clients.

Ramius provides a range of hedge fund investment and advisory solutions, including customised and commingled fund of funds, portfolio completion, portfolio hedging and hedge fund replication.

Funds managed

Key personnel

Thomas Strauss

Thomas Strauss is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ramius LLC. From 1995 to 2009, Mr. Strauss was a Managing Member and a member of the Executive Committee of Ramius LLC. Mr. Strauss was also the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund of Funds Group. From 1963 to 1991, Mr. Strauss was with Salomon Brothers Inc. He was admitted as a General Partner in 1972 and was appointed to the Executive Committee in 1981. In 1986, he became President of Salomon Brothers and a Vice Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of Salomon Inc, the holding company of Salomon Brothers and Phibro Energy, Inc. From 1986 through 1991, Mr. Strauss was responsible for the firm's Investment Banking, Sales and Trading, Asset Management and International Activities.

Mr. Strauss is a former member of the Board of Governors of the American Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Public Securities Association, the Securities Industry Association, the Federal Reserve International Capital Market Advisory Committee and the U.S. Japan Business Council. He is a past President of the Association of Primary Dealers in U.S. Government Securities.

Mr. Strauss currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the U.S.-Japan Foundation and is a member of the Boards of Trustees and Executive Committees of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Mount Sinai Hospital. Mr. Strauss is also Trustee Emeritus of Riverdale Country School and Vice President and Treasurer and member of the Board of Trustees of the Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation.

Stuart Davies

Stuart Davies is a Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer and Head of the Investment Management Committee of Ramius Alternative Solutions LLC. Stuart joined the firm in January 2009. Prior to joining Ramius, Stuart was a Managing Director and Global Head of Investments at Ivy Asset Management in New York and was a member of Ivy’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee. Earlier in Stuart’s career, he was a member of the International Investment Committee of Coronation Fund Managers. He also spent three years at Nedcor Investment Bank as Head of the off-shore multi-manager investment team. Stuart started his career in 1992 with Deloitte and Touche in both their audit and corporate finance divisions. He graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Commerce and Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting. He is also a Chartered Accountant and a CFA charter holder.

Vikas Kapoor

Vikas Kapoor is a Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Construction and Risk Management of Ramius Alternative Solutions LLC. Mr. Kapoor joined the firm in June 2008.

Prior to joining Ramius, Mr. Kapoor was a Managing Director at Arden Asset Management focusing on Portfolio Construction and Risk Management and was a member of Arden’s Investment Committee and Management Committee. Earlier in Mr. Kapoor’s career, he was Managing Director of Deutsche Bank’s Absolute Return Strategies Group where he headed the Quantitative Analysis and Applications Group.

Mr. Kapoor received an M.S. in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, an M.B.A. in Finance with Honors from the Tulane University in New Orleans in 1996 and a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Kurukshetra, India in 1991.

Why Advance chose to partner with Ramius

In looking for a specialist Alternative Strategies partner we wanted to find an organisation with a similar investment philosophy to Advance’s. For instance, we share the belief that traditional hedge fund of fund structures are flawed and need a new approach.

In addition, we wanted to find an organisation that would be committed to working together in a true partnership to provide the best investment outcome for investors. This entails a commitment to full transparency and efficient communication. Ramius has successfully built its business around the model of assisting clients with bespoke solutions and are doing it well.

The key investment professionals at Ramius, Stuart Davies and Vikas Kapoor are highly respected in the hedge fund industry. They are backed by an investment team focused on good quality research, with specialists covering all the main hedge fund strategies as well as operational due diligence and risk management.