BGHL September 2008 newsletter

September 2008 Review Dear Shareholders, September has been particularly challenging for the Sark Fund. Given the very poor performance reported this month, we would like to provide you with some clarifications about the Sark Fund. September performance Market conditions have been exceptionally tough this month. Tensions were extreme and reached a peak with the Lehman bankruptcy, followed by other financial institutions in difficulties rescued just in time by either competitors (Merrill Lynch), governments (Dexia, Fortis), central banks (AIG) or core shareholders (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley). In this context, the convertible bond market has been hit as main players are proprietary trading desks of banks and hedge funds. Positions being liquidated by these "forced sellers" have weighed on bonds valuations which we had hence significantly marked down. Almost all the convertible bonds of the Sark Fund are now at their bottom price as they are marked at parity. We could now unwind 75% of these bonds by accelerating the conversion and it would not cost the fund more than a few points. These valuation levels have not been seen for decades! We do believe that these strategies offer very attractive investment opportunities for the fund. However we remain cautious given the environment and maintain a very low level of leverage. Prime brokers exposure and counterparty risk It is Sark Fund's policy to have several prime brokers in order to diversify its exposure and obtain the best services. The fund currently has six prime brokers (Lehman was not one of them). Given the collapse of Lehman and tensions arising on broker-dealers, we decided during this month to rebalance Sark Fund assets in favour of what we think are the fund's most "robust" prime brokers. Most of the rebalancing has already been done and we are continuing this exercise. We are also actively monitoring other types of counterparty risks. We are cutting exposure to some counterparties which we are trading with under ISDA. We are also switching exposure from over the counter (OTC) to the clearing houses of regulated exchanged. This is done selectively where we feel we are the most exposed. Lehman exposure Lehman Brothers was not a prime broker of the Sark Master Fund. Nevertheless, the fund has exposure to Lehman. Almost half of the exposure is due to collateral posted to cover independent amounts on OTC derivatives traded under ISDA with Lehman Brothers International Europe. The remaining exposure is due to a corporate loan that Sark Fund has in sub participation through Lehman Commercial Papers Inc. Given the circumstances, the valuation and investment committees have given a low probability to the recovery of this exposure. Globally, this is contributing for -88bps* to the performance of the fund in September. Short selling restrictions We do not believe that short selling restrictions recently announced in Europe will significantly restrict convertible bond arbitrage, mandatory arbitrage and gamma trading as, in most jurisdictions where we are involved, it is the net exposure that is taken into account. Investment strategy Given current market conditions, we have decided to reduce the risk of the Sark Fund. At the end of August, the equity at risk was at 53%. Today, it stands at 49.3% and we intend to reduce it further. This is very close to the lowest level of equity at risk the Sark Fund has ever had. Discount versus NAV The Company intends to return shortly to its shareholders with a proposal to address the discount of its shares vs. NAV. I. Company Information General information Investment Manager Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, L.P. Company Domicile Guernsey Website www.bgholdingltd.com Management fee 1.5% p.a. Performance fee 20% SEDOL ISIN Reuters Bloomberg EUR LSE B28ZZQ1 GG00B1FQG453 BGHLx.L BGHL LN EUR Euronext B1FQG45 GG00B1FQG453 BGHL.AS BGHL NA GBX LSE B39VMM0 GG00B39VMM07 BGHS.L BGHS LN GBX Euronext B39VMM1 GG00B39VMM07 BGHS.AS BGHS NA II. Overview Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited ("BGHL") is a Guernsey closed-ended investment company and is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets as a collective investment scheme under article 1:107 of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act. BGHL invests its assets in order to deliver an exposure to multiple alternative investment strategies managed by the Investment Manager. The investment objective is to seek to produce long-term appreciation of its assets. BGHL will seek to achieve this by investing into Sark Fund Limited ("Sark Fund"). In addition, a proportion of the net assets of the BGHL may, at the discretion of the Investment Manager, be invested in other hedge funds and/or other financial assets selected by the Investment Manager. As at today's note, two investments have been made. BGHL aims to generate a target annualised return in excess of 10% (net of all fees). III. Share information NAV Euro Shares Sterling Shares Estimated NAV ¤9.2893 £8.8780 Estimated Month to date return -10.85% -9.84% Estimated Year to date return -16.31% -11.22% Estimated Inception to date return -7.11% -11.22% Euro Shares Amsterdam (AEX) London (LSE) Market close ¤6.61 ¤7.30 Premium / discount to estimated NAV -28.84% -21.41 % Sterling Shares Amsterdam (AEX) London (LSE) Market close n/a GBX 657.50 Premium / discount to estimated NAV n/a -25.94% In the context of the current discount to NAV, the Company continues to purchase some of its own shares into treasury. Euro Shares Sterling Shares Shares issued 83,958,598 5,117,202 Shares held in treasury 7,518,966 282,283 Shares outstanding 76,439,632 4,834,919 Total value of the investments of BGHL based on the ¤765 million estimated NAV for the shares outstanding Market capitalisation of BGHL based on the share price for the shares outstanding ¤546 million Amsterdam (AEX) market close for the Euro Shares & London (LSE) market close for the Sterling shares IV. BGHL Composition The proceeds of the initial public offering of BGHL have been invested into the Sark Fund as of October 31, 2006 (net of a certain amount retained by BGHL for working capital requirements). The proceeds of the secondary offering of BGHL (approximately ¤534 million) have been entirely invested into the Sark Fund: ¤530 million as of July 1, 2007 and approximately ¤4 million as of August 1, 2007 (as a result of the over-allotment). In addition to having 100% of its proceeds invested into the Sark Fund, BGHL is invested in private equity companies. A. Sark Fund Limited Note that trade examples detailed in each strategy below are among the best and worst performances of the month. European equities markets moved down sharply in September with the Eurostoxx 50 down 9.73%. Volatilities on stock markets reached a peak during this month: the VIX index moved up to 39.39% from 20.65% and the VStoxx index up to 40.39% from 21.06%. The iTraxx crossover index ended the month at 592bps (+44bps). Credit strategies Credit strategies cost 86bps* to the fund in September. Even if, at times, credit spreads found temporary relief through the announcements and political discussions around the TARP plan, this did not prevent large-scale liquidations that were only accelerated after the Lehman bankruptcy in September. The fact that the US government has approved the use of public funds to purchase (rather than simply fund) distressed assets is obviously a very positive move towards addressing and possibly resolving this crisis. It also sanctions the fact that this is not only a funding crisis, but mostly an asset quality/valuation and solvency crisis. In these extraordinary times where valuations are being driven by much more than credit fundamentals, we accelerated the reduction of our positions that did not have short term appreciation catalysts. We cut our long credit positions in bonds and loans by 34%. We will continue to opportunistically reduce our positions. Indeed, in this constricted market environment, refunding needs will continue to outweigh asset quality and other fundamental measures. Though the single market theme has been the stresses in the financial sector, once more "normal" conditions are re-established and the real economy again becomes the main focal point, lower quality non-financial investment grade companies with funding needs will remain under scrutiny. We also got hit by one of our shorts this month. We were net short CIBA credit risk as we thought the trend of weak results (EBIT -20% y-o-y), and structural pressures (cost cutting efforts were swamped by the combined pressures from FX, price erosion, raw materials, and slowing demand) would carry on deteriorating fundamental credit metrics. We were amazed by the price BASF offered for the company, which triggered a 220bps tightening of the 5y CDS. Equity Strategies Equity strategies contributed a negative 154bps* in September. We were particularly impacted by the announcement of IFI/IFIL merger. Even tough the exchange ratio was positive for IFIL shareholders, we did suffer from a widening of the holding discount following market dislocation and funds deleveraging aggressively. On the positive side, the portfolio benefited from hedges put in place through gamma trades. Given current market conditions, we have decided to cut most of the remaining equity trades as we believe the current environment is too uncertain for those strategies and does not provide good enough relative risk rewards. Volatility strategies In September, the bulk of the loss of the Sark Fund came from our convertible bonds and mandatories portfolio as the European equity-linked market completely collapsed this month on the back of extreme selling pressure driven by several forces. Whilst the deleveraging trend and the rise of funding costs had already hit the strategy globally in the past months, the Lehman bankruptcy triggered a wave of hard selling of convertibles and mandatories positions held as collateral by various Lehman counterparties. This put further pressure on the (already bad) performance of convertible funds on a global basis and prompted waves of selling across the board, amidst rising expectations that hedge funds as well as convertible long only funds may face sizeable redemptions by the end of the third quarter. The collapse was even further amplified by the extreme lack of liquidity of the market and the complete lack of transparency on the price of some bonds as we experienced ourselves. Some bonds (even the largest ones) were 'quoted' by dealers with 5 points bid/offer spreads, with absolutely no trading in the bonds to support such 'quotes', as we have experienced ourselves (see below regarding the UBS / BBVA mandatory exchangeable bond). Convertible bond arbitrage The convertible bonds book contributed -230bps* to the fund's performance this month. We experienced significant losses in our low delta / credit sensitive convertibles on the back of widening credit spreads, liquidation of positions held as collateral against Lehman claims, and a total lack of buying interest in such convertible profiles. We also marked down our investment in the Jazztel convertibles. Our investment in the Fortis Convertible And Subordinated Hybrid Equity-linked Securities ('CASHES') cost us 144bps* as the bonds tumbled amidst investor fears of liquidity issues at the Belgian bank. Investors were clearly concerned about the regulatory capital position of Fortis caused by its purchase of part of ABN Amro and large write-downs in its structured-credit portfolio. The bankruptcy of Lehman, the fire-sale of Merrill Lynch, the liquidation of Washington Mutual and the bail-out of AIG triggered investor defiance towards financial institutions perceived as the weakest in Europe, and particularly hit Fortis, which led the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments to intervene through a combined ¤11.2bn capital infusion at Fortis Bank, the bank arm of Fortis (as opposed to the listed equity of the holding company). This prevented the Fortis CASHES to further collapse but did actually not help the bonds to recover, despite the fact that the ¤4.7bn capital injection by the government of Belgium was realized at the issuer of the bonds (Fortis Bank), as the bonds continue to suffer from a clear overhang of the global tier one market. The bonds are currently trading around 40% of par (with the shares down 70% since issue), which given the Euribor + 2.0% coupon implies a yield of around 17.5%. Given the capital injection which has brought Fortis' tier one ratio to 9.5% (Basel I), and the clear government support directed at the very issuer of the CASHES, we are convinced that this bond should trade above 70%. Nevertheless we had reduced our position by one third as we had decided to cut our risk in the name. Our volatility positions (high delta convertibles with no or limited credit risk) also underperformed, driven by the same market forces (deleveraging, rising funding costs and liquidation of Lehman collateral). During the month we have reduced the size of the convertible bonds book by around 20%. We now have a very concentrated portfolio, with most of our high delta positions trading very close to their conversion values (3 to 5 points above parity, whilst in normalized market conditions 5-year convertible bonds used to be issued at 20 to 25 points above parity), which we believe drastically reduces the risk of our positions. Mandatory convertible bond arbitrage Our mandatory convertible bond book took the highest hit, with a negative 660bps* contribution to the performance of the fund this month, which came essentially from our trade in the UBS / BBVA mandatory exchangeable bonds. The bond was 'quoted' around 66-67 at the beginning of the month although we believe there was no trading in the name to support this mark. We started to make markets in size in the mandatory in order to find its true value. We went out in the market with tight bid/offer prices and we only manage to achieve a trade some 10 points lower when we came with a firm 55-56 market. This level corresponds to the Voluntary Conversion value of the bonds, a level where there is no more downside mark-to-market risk since at this level the bonds can be converted at no cost. We have marked our investment at this level. Our position in the Fortis Mandatory also suffered due to the same reasons as for the Fortis CASHES. On the positive side, we enjoyed hefty gamma gains in our mandatory position in Lukoil, which has no credit risk as the underlying shares are pledged for the bondholders and coupons are secured by US Treasury notes. Overall although we are extremely disappointed by the performance of the UBS / BBVA mandatory exchangeable bond, we are more than ever convinced by the value in our mandatory portfolio. Our short term bonds (one maturing in December 2008 and two maturing in June and September 2009 respectively) perform well and will produce very good returns as they come to maturity, whilst the longer term ones now trade at, or just a few points above, their conversion values which provides a clear floor for future mark-to-market movements. Corporate warrant arbitrage Corporate warrant arbitrage contributed 7bps* to the Sark Fund's performance this month as one of our warrants on a Russian company involved in steel pipe products performed very well on the back of very high realized volatility. Gamma Trading The month of September has witnessed a series of unprecedented events in the Finance industry, with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers spurring a flight to safety and away from risky assets. This materialized nowhere better than in the banks sector where investors totally lost confidence in the riskier names, igniting a wave of government bailouts and a rush to find private solutions for the weakest. In the wake of these events, the sector witnessed unprecedented volatility, helped by the sudden concerted actions on short selling. Our gamma strategies benefited greatly from this volatility (+153bps*) in the markets in general, and in Financials in particular, yielding a 2.2% performance for the month Trading Trading posted a negative 62bps* to the fund's performance. One of the losses came from a trade where we were long commodities and energy vs. short financial stocks. This trade has been cut early in the month. Other losses were spread across the board. As of October 1, 2008, Sark Master Fund Limited's assets under management were approximately ¤1.5bn. Annex 1: Sark Fund Greeks Greeks Delta -2.90% -2.90 bps P&L variation for market +1% Gamma 2.02% Delta variation for market +1% Vega 25.2 bps By vol point Vega with maturity weight 23.8 bps By vol point (1/sqrt(T)) Theta -4.5 bps By day Rho -0.2 bps For 1 bp of interest rates increasing Credit sensitivity -1.5 bps For 1 bp of credit spreads widening Annex 2: Sark Fund Performance Attribution Contribution to the performance* Credit strategies -86 bps Credit -85 bps Capital Structure Arbitrage -2 bps Equity strategies -154 bps Risk Arbitrage / Special Situations 9 bps Value with Catalyst / Value -163 bps Volatility strategies -730 bps Mandatory Convertible Bond Arbitrage -660 bps Convertible Bond Arbitrage -230 bps Gamma Trading 153 bps Warrant Arbitrage 7 bps Trading -62 bps Lehman exposure loss -88 bps Total -1120 bps Annex 3: Sark Fund Equity at Risk Equity at Risk Credit Strategies 7.6% Credit 6.7% Capital Structure Arbitrage 0.5% Restructurings 0.4% Equity Strategies 11.5% Risk Arbitrage 0.0% Special Situations 1.7% Value with Catalyst 9.1% Value 0.7% Volatility Strategies 29.8% Mandatory Arbitrage 26.1% Convertible Bond Arbitrage 2.4% Gamma Trading 1.2% Warrants Arbitrage 0.0% Trading 0.5% Trading 0.5% Total 49.3% Annex 4: Sark Fund Gross Exposure +---------------------------------------------------------+ | | | In M¤ | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Credit strategies | | | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Long | 290 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Short | 44 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Equity strategies & Trading | | | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Long | 461 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Short | 422 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Convertible bond & Mandatory arbitrage | | | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Long | 2,086 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Short | 1,720 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Gamma trading | | | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Long | 263 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Short | 263 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Warrant arbitrage | | | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Long | 6 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | | Short | 5 | |----------------------------------------+-------+--------| | Gross Exposure | | 5,561 | +---------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Long | Short | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | Credit strategies | market value long | Abs(market value | | | | short) | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | | Abs (notional | notional long for | | | short for CDS) | CDS | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | Equity strategies & | delta long | Abs( delta short) | | trading | | | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | Convertible bonds & | market value long | Abs([delta equity | | Mandatory arbitrage | | + options]) | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | Gamma trading | Abs (delta equity) | Abs(delta equity) | |--------------------------+--------------------+-------------------| | Warrant arbitrage | delta long | Abs(delta short) | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Annex 5: Sark Fund Historical Returns Summary Sark Fund Euro share class Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YTD ITD 2003 - - 0.75% 0.76% 0.82% 1.04% 0.93% 1.06% 1.18% 1.55% 1.05% 0.17% 9.69% 9.69% 2004 1.07% -0.12% 1.03% 0.22% 0.14% -0.29% -0.42% -0.42% -0.19% -0.49% 1.18% 1.07% 2.81% 12.77% 2005 1.70% 1.06% 1.09% -0.69% 0.27% 1.27% 1.16% 0.50% 1.00% -0.44% 0.71% 0.77% 8.70% 22.58% 2006 -0.18% 1.56% 1.64% 0.86% -0.47% 1.35% 0.40% 1.56% 2.73% 2.90% 2.34% 2.91% 18.99% 45.85% 2007 3.14% 1.46% 4.67% 0.74% 1.39% -2.24% 0.87% -2.20% -0.31% 1.83% -2.15% -1.24% 5.85% 54.38% 2008 -2.08% -0.01% -2.35% 1.10% 1.13% -2.33% -1.39% 0.21% -11.20* - - - -16.22%* 29.33%* Sark Fund US Dollar share class Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YTD ITD 2003 - - 0.67% 0.70% 0.77% 0.94% 0.84% 0.97% 1.15% 1.46% 1.01% 0.15% 9.00% 9.00% 2004 1.00% -0.17% 0.96% 0.13% 0.07% -0.35% -0.47% -0.47% -0.24% -0.59% 1.16% 1.06% 2.08% 11.27% 2005 1.66% 1.08% 1.09% -0.64% 0.31% 1.30% 1.22% 0.62% 1.06% -0.32% 0.81% 0.89% 9.45% 21.79% 2006 -0.01% 1.64% 1.78% 1.08% -0.29% 1.49% 0.56% 1.74% 2.83% 3.06% 2.64% 3.01% 21.29% 47.72% 2007 3.19% 1.58% 4.82% 0.89% 1.45% -2.15% 0.97% -2.12% -0.22% 1.92% -2.13% -1.17% 6.97% 58.02% 2008 -2.12% -0.07% -2.57% 1.02% 0.98% -2.52% -1.50% 0.21% -11.40% - - - -17.11%* 30.98%* Annex 6: Sark Fund Macroeconomic Risks through Stress Tests General stress tests Scenario Description Impact % of NAV Spot : 10% ; Credit : 0% 1 Delta - spot up ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 0.68% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 0% 2 Delta - spot down ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 1.27% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 3 Vega - vol up Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 0.90% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 4 Vega - vol down Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -0.88% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% 5 Credit spread widen ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.82% Spot : 0% ; Credit : -25% 6 Credit spread tighten ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.19% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 7 Market crash 1 0% 0.15% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 8 Market crash 2 0% 2.32% Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; Vol : 70% ; Rates 9 Market crash 3 : 0% 5.08% Spot : -10% ; Credit : Market crash, rates 50% ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 10 down 1 -12.5% 0.34% Spot : -20% ; Credit : Market crash, rates 75% ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 11 down 2 -12.5% 2.53% Market crash, rates Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; 12 down 3 Vol : 70% ; Rates : -12.5% 5.29% Spot : -10% ; Credit : Market crash, rates up 50% ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 13 1 12.5% -0.03% Spot : -20% ; Credit : Market crash, rates up 75% ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 14 2 12.5% 2.13% Spot : -30% ; Credit : Market crash, rates up 100% ; Vol : 70% ; Rates 15 3 : 12.5% 4.89% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% 16 decorrelation 1 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.68% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% 17 decorrelation 2 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.76% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% 18 decorrelation 3 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.58% Spot : -5% ; Credit : Equity Credit -25% ; Vol : 10% ; Rates 19 decorrelation 4 : 0% 3.43% Spot : -5% ; Credit : Equity Credit -25% ; Vol : -10% ; Rates 20 decorrelation 5 : 0% 1.75% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% 21 decorrelation 6 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.92% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% 22 decorrelation 7 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.70% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 23 Market rally 1 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 1.41% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 24 Market rally 2 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.31% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 25 Market rally 3 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.23% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% ; Vol : -10% ; Rates 26 Market rally 4 : 0% 1.96% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 27 Market rally 5 0% 2.85% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% ; Vol : 10% ; Rates 28 Market rally 6 : 0% 3.77% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 29 Inflation 1 12.5% 1.20% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 30 Inflation 2 12.5% 2.10% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 31 Inflation 3 12.5% 3.02% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : -10% ; Rates 32 Inflation 4 : 12.5% 1.77% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 33 Inflation 5 12.5% 2.66% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : 10% ; Rates 34 Inflation 6 : 12.5% 3.58% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 35 Inflation 7 25% 1.00% Market rally, Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 36 Inflation 8 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 25% 1.90% Market rally, Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 37 Inflation 9 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 25% 2.82% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : -10% ; Rates 38 Inflation 10 : 25% 1.60% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 39 Inflation 11 25% 2.49% Spot : 10% ; Credit : Market rally, -25% ; Vol : 10% ; Rates 40 Inflation 12 : 25% 3.40% Worst -2.70% Stress tests with small and mid caps adjustments Scenario Description Impact % of NAV Spot : 10% ; Credit : 0% ; 1 Delta - spot up Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 1.32% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 0% ; 2 Delta - spot down Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 0.65% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 3 Vega - vol up Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 0.90% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 4 Vega - vol down Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -0.88% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 5 Credit spread widen Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.82% Spot : 0% ; Credit : -25% ; 6 Credit spread tighten Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.19% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% 7 Market crash 1 ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 0% -0.49% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% 8 Market crash 2 ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 0% 1.05% Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% 9 Market crash 3 ; Vol : 70% ; Rates : 0% 3.18% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% Market crash, rates down ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 10 1 -12.5% -0.29% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% Market crash, rates down ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 11 2 -12.5% 1.26% Market crash, rates down Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; 12 3 Vol : 70% ; Rates : -12.5% 3.39% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% 13 Market crash, rates up 1 ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 12.5% -0.67% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% 14 Market crash, rates up 2 ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 12.5% 0.86% Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% 15 Market crash, rates up 3 ; Vol : 70% ; Rates : 12.5% 2.98% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 16 decorrelation 1 Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.36% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 17 decorrelation 2 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.45% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 18 decorrelation 3 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.26% Equity Credit Spot : -5% ; Credit : -25% 19 decorrelation 4 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.12% Equity Credit Spot : -5% ; Credit : -25% 20 decorrelation 5 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 1.44% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 21 decorrelation 6 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.92% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 22 decorrelation 7 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.70% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 23 Market rally 1 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 1.72% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 24 Market rally 2 Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.63% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 25 Market rally 3 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.55% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 26 Market rally 4 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 2.59% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 27 Market rally 5 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 3.49% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 28 Market rally 6 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 4.41% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 29 1 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 12.5% 1.51% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 30 2 Vol : 0% ; Rates : 12.5% 2.41% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 31 3 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 12.5% 3.33% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, Inflation ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 32 4 12.5% 2.40% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 33 5 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 12.5% 3.30% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 34 6 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 12.5% 4.21% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 35 7 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 25% 1.32% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 36 8 Vol : 0% ; Rates : 25% 2.22% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% ; 37 9 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 25% 3.13% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 38 10 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 25% 2.24% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 39 11 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 25% 3.12% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 40 12 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 25% 4.03% Worst -2.70% Stress tests assuming a third of risk arbitrage trades breaks in case market drops by more than 10% Scenario Description Impact % of NAV Spot : 10% ; Credit : 0% ; 1 Delta - spot up Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 0.75% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 0% 2 Delta - spot down ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 1.21% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 3 Vega - vol up Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 0.90% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 0% ; 4 Vega - vol down Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -0.88% Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 5 Credit spread widen Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.82% Spot : 0% ; Credit : -25% 6 Credit spread tighten ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.19% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% 7 Market crash 1 ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 0% 0.09% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% 8 Market crash 2 ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 0% 2.02% Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; Vol : 70% ; Rates : 9 Market crash 3 0% 4.64% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% Market crash, rates down ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 10 1 -12.5% 0.28% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% Market crash, rates down ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 11 2 -12.5% 2.23% Market crash, rates down Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; 12 3 Vol : 70% ; Rates : -12.5% 4.85% Spot : -10% ; Credit : 50% ; Vol : 30% ; Rates : 13 Market crash, rates up 1 12.5% -0.09% Spot : -20% ; Credit : 75% ; Vol : 50% ; Rates : 14 Market crash, rates up 2 12.5% 1.84% Spot : -30% ; Credit : 100% ; Vol : 70% ; Rates : 15 Market crash, rates up 3 12.5% 4.44% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 16 decorrelation 1 Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% -1.65% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 17 decorrelation 2 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.73% Equity Credit Spot : 5% ; Credit : 25% ; 18 decorrelation 3 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.55% Equity Credit Spot : -5% ; Credit : -25% 19 decorrelation 4 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.40% Equity Credit Spot : -5% ; Credit : -25% 20 decorrelation 5 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 1.72% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 21 decorrelation 6 Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% -0.92% Equity Credit Spot : 0% ; Credit : 25% ; 22 decorrelation 7 Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% -2.70% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 23 Market rally 1 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 1.44% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 24 Market rally 2 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.34% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 25 Market rally 3 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.26% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 26 Market rally 4 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 0% 2.02% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 27 Market rally 5 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 0% 2.91% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 28 Market rally 6 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 0% 3.83% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, Inflation ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 29 1 12.5% 1.23% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 30 2 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 12.5% 2.13% Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, Inflation ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 31 3 12.5% 3.05% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, Inflation ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 32 4 12.5% 1.83% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 33 5 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 12.5% 2.72% Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% Market rally, Inflation ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 34 6 12.5% 3.64% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 35 7 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 25% 1.03% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 36 8 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 25% 1.93% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 5% ; Credit : -25% 37 9 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 25% 2.85% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 38 10 ; Vol : -10% ; Rates : 25% 1.66% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 39 11 ; Vol : 0% ; Rates : 25% 2.55% Market rally, Inflation Spot : 10% ; Credit : -25% 40 12 ; Vol : 10% ; Rates : 25% 3.46% Worst -2.70% B. Private Equity Investments The private equity investment, entered into on May 23, 2007 and financed by a loan facility, is in the unlisted securities resulting from the public offer made by Apollo on Countrywide Plc, the largest network of UK real estate agents. BGHL holds Castle HoldCo 1 Ltd shares and Castle HoldCo 2 Ltd debt securities. The historical price paid by BGHL for the unlisted securities was approximately £12m. The Investment Manager acquired its investment in Castle HoldCo for BGHL from certain other funds it manages. The purchase price paid by BGHL for the unlisted securities was equal to the cost to those other funds of acquiring those unlisted securities. The Castle HoldCo investment is reviewed by a valuation committee which meets quarterly and has an independent member appointed by the board of BGHL. The investment has been marked down after the August quarterly review of the valuation committee. The Company entered into a second small private equity investment in Rasaland on June 27, 2008 for $10m. This investment is currently marked at cost. Both investments represent 1% of its assets under management. Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management update Transaction in the Company's securities Please note that transactions in the Company's securities that have been performed by officers, directors and persons referred to in the section 5:60 of the Financial Supervision Act ("Wft") are reported: - directly on the AFM website: www.afm.nl (public database > notification > insider-transactions 5:60 wft); - on the Company's website through a link to the AFM notification: www.bgholdingltd.com (Investment Manager > Regulatory information). Transactions in the Company's own securities are also reported on: - the AFM website: www.afm.nl (public database > notification > price-sensitive press releases); - the Company's website: www.bgholdingltd.com (Investor Relations > Financial announcements). We are pleased to welcome Carla Foucaud who is joining our team of analysts. Since 2004, Carla has worked as an analyst in Telecommunications, Media and Technologies in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs London. Sincerely, E. Boussard & E. Gavaudan Contact information Investors Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management, LP Emmanuel Gavaudan 1 Dover Street London W1S 4LA Media Financial Dynamics Robert Bailhache / Nick Henderson Holborn Gate 26 Southhampton Buildings London WC2A 1PB Disclaimer This newsletter contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to market conditions and environments, estimated performance of investment strategies, investment activities and funding of BGHL. Such forward-looking statements involve unknown risk, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievement of BGHL, or market conditions or investment strategies, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. BGHL does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events. This announcement is not (i) an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy the ordinary shares of BGHL (the "Securities") or any other securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction, (ii) any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity or financial promotion of any kind, or (iii) investment advice or a recommendation. BGHL is established as an investment company domiciled in Guernsey. BGHL has received the necessary approval of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and the States of Guernsey Policy Council. BGHL is registered with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets as a collective investment scheme under article 1:107 of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act. You should always bear in mind that: * all investment is subject to risk; * results in the past are no guarantee of future results; * the investment performance of BGHL may go down as well as up. You may not get back all of your original investment; and * if you are in any doubt about the contents of this communication or if you consider making an investment decision, you are advised to seek expert financial advice. BGHL has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). In addition, the Securities have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Consequently, the Securities may not be offered, sold or otherwise transferred within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons except in accordance with the Securities Act or an exemption therefrom and under circumstances which will not require BGHL to register under the Investment Company Act. Accordingly, US Persons acquiring the Securities are subject to significant restrictions on transfer. In addition, US persons who are not qualified purchasers (within the meaning of section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act) will be prohibited from purchasing the Securities at any time, including on the secondary market. No public offering of the Securities has been or will be made in the United States. This communication is for information purposes only and the information contained in this communication should not be relied upon as a substitute for financial or other professional advice. [*] Estimated figures ---END OF MESSAGE--- http://hugin.info/139013/R/1256896/274200.pdf
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