San Diego County Retirement Association invests $50 million in Mount Lucas Management's new GMS hedge fund product

Business Wire, March 26, 2001

Business Editors

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26 2001

Mount Lucas Management (www.mtlucas.com), a leading provider of alternative investment strategies for institutions and high net worth investors, today announced that San Diego County Retirement Association has invested $50 million in its Global Markets Strategy(TM), or MLM GMS(TM), hedge fund product, which is designed to allow investors to capture hedge fund returns with a high degree of transparency and liquidity unavailable in traditional hedge funds.

San Diego County Retirement Association is the first major institutional investor in the MLM GMS(TM), which was launched in March 2001. MLM GMS(TM) builds on the firm's proprietary MLM Index(TM) technology, which has provided investors with passive and active managed futures programs since 1988. MLM GMS(TM) is designed to capture the returns of a broad range of hedge funds with complete transparency and liquidity, without the baggage of traditional hedge fund investments, including mandatory lockup periods.

Frank Vannerson, Chairman of Mount Lucas Management, said, "San Diego County Retirement Association faces the same issues as any other major institutional investor approaching hedge funds as an alternative investment. MLM GMS(TM) is the first hedge fund vehicle to address those concerns, giving investors exposure to the asset classes most often held by hedge funds, including stocks, global bonds, currencies and commodities, yet also providing them with transparency, liquidity, and regulatory oversight."

Mike Munson, Assistant CIO of San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, said, "We have been investors in the MLM index for several years and have been quite pleased with the results. MLM GMS(TM) gives us a new strategy that has returns similar to hedge funds with the added benefits of increased liquidity and complete transparency."

Mount Lucas Management (www.mtlucas.com), headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, is the leading provider of managed futures investment programs for institutions and high net worth investors. Founded in 1986, Mount Lucas designed and managed the first futures investment program for a major institution that encompassed all aspects of the investment, including trading, investment accounting and monitoring, and legal structure. Mount Lucas' MLM Index(TM) is used by investment consultants and industry periodicals as a benchmark for evaluating returns from commodity futures investing.