The Company

smn is a private and independent financial services company based in Vienna, Austria. The company is licensed as Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) by the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (FMA). smn was founded in 1996 by Alexander Svoboda, Christian Mayer and Michael Neubauer as a client oriented provider of innovative financial solutions. These are either packaged in fund structures or offered via product or advisory concepts.

The company focuses on the business lines Managed Futures, Systematic Equity Strategies and acts as exclusive sales agent for the products of Geneva s private banking group Union Bancaire Privee in Austria. Due to its long track record and the deep expertise in the field of Alternative Investments smn also acts as an advisor for institutional investors.

All products managed by smn rely on a fully systematic investment process. All investment decisions are based on objective, quantitative criteria and are free of human discretion. This principle is applied at all stages of the investment process of the Managed Futures products as well as the Systematic Equity Strategies.

Substantial investments into the company s funds by the company s founding partners, managers and employees ensure the alignment of interest between the investors and the company. Client orientation as well as the highest standards in transparency towards our investors are very important elements in our corporate culture.

1996
smn Investment Services GmbH, Vienna, Austria is founded by Alexander Svoboda, Christian Mayer and Michael Neubauer;
Start "smn Diversified Futures Fund"- Managed Futures Fund based in Luxemburg.

1997
smn Investment Services Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda is founded to act as investment manager; Start of "Alternative Investment Fund" - Fund of Hedge Funds.

2004
Cooperation with Union Bancaire Privee in the field of Fund of Hedge Funds/Manager Due Diligence.

2007
Start as Exclusive Sales Agent for UBP/UBAM products in Austria.

2012
Start "C-QUADRAT SMN Equity Trend Plus" - Systematic Global Equity Fund.

2014
Termination of Business Line "Fund of Hedge Funds" smn Investment Services Vienna is licensed according to AIFMD regulations and acts as Portfolio and Risk Manager for smn's Manged Futures and Systematic Equity Funds .

2016
smn launches "SMN Structural Alpha Trend", a trend program focussing on alternative futures markets and almost totally uncorrelated to traditional CTA strategies.

Gernot Heitzinger, CEFA

Gernot Heitzinger is Managing Director responsible for Portfolio Management, Client Relations and Finance. He also acts as the company s speaker. He started his asset management career in 1990. His former functions include fund management equities and Chief Investment Officer. Prior joining smns management team in 2004 he worked for ERSTE Sparinvest, ÖPAG Pensionskassen AG and INVESCO.

Joseph Waldstein, CFA, FRM

Joseph Waldstein is Managing Director responsible for Quantitative Research and Risk Management. He started his career in Alternative Investments as a hedge fund analyst with HVB Alternatives. Additional assignments as a hedge fund analyst and portfolio manager of hedge fund-of-funds were with HVB AI in New York and BAWAG AI in Vienna. He joined smn as a Senior Global Markets Analyst in 2007. In 2014 he became Deputy Head of Quant Research. Joseph is a CFA and FRM Charterholder.

smn's approach to sustainability

As a signatory to the UNPRI (= United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment), smn has committed itself to comply with the ESG criteria (environment, social affairs and corporate governance). We implement our commitment to sustainability through specific measures. For our office, we only get electricity from wind energy, we do not operate company cars, we use public transport wherever possible and prefer to use products from local producers and dealers who are also committed to sustainability. Our employees are our most valuable asset and we therefore always strive for their satisfaction and well-being by ensuring a pleasant working atmosphere and appropriate remuneration with long-term and sustainable incentive systems and enabling flexible working hours, further training and participation in a pension fund system.

Responsible investment

• The AIFs managed by smn do not invest in individual company holdings, they only trade in futures contracts. In this way, on the one hand, we contribute to well-functioning and reliable markets by providing market liquidity, which in turn demonstrably reduces the volatility in the markets. In addition, this liquidity enables other market participants to achieve their goals in the best possible way. In the commodities sector, these market participants are often manufacturing companies, which are given better opportunities for their long-term planning and hedging. We are aware of the essential role that financial markets have in our society and we are aware of our great responsibility for the proper functioning of these markets.

• As a sales partner of our long-term partners Union Bacaire Privée and SEB, our customers also have a selected range of products from these renowned asset managers at our disposal. For many years, sustainability has also been a key focus of our partners' product policy.
• Our UNPRI transparency report is available for the first time for 2020 via www.unpri.org.

Additional information

For more details about our access to these topics, please refer to our two documents, (a) smn's information under Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 ("ESG Disclosure") and (b) smn ESG whitepaper, which can be viewed on our website. As a UNPRI signatory, smn also publishes ongoing reports (for the first time for 2020), which can be obtained from the UNPRI website www.unpri.org (keyword "Transparency Reports").