UBS has teamed up with hedge fund manager Ramius to launch the UBS Managed Investments Diversified Alpha Strategy (Midas), offering access to a portfolio of hedge funds.
The bank expects to write a wide range of structures linked to the new index including principal-protected notes.
Midas tracks eight live UBS strategies and three hedge fund replication strategies targeting performance in both bull and bear markets. The index also includes underlying strategies that trade only liquid contracts with live track records of up to four years.
"The index is designed to effectively harness the power of Ramius' proven top-down allocation strategy and track record in managing assets for a global client base," said UBS head of FICC strategies structuring Amit Goyal.