NEW YORK, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS), managed by S&P Capital IQ on behalf of the American Bankers Association, announced today the launch of the CGS Hedge Fund Service which offers unique CUSIP identifiers for domestic and global hedge funds. Built in collaboration with eVestment Alliance, a global provider of institutional investment data intelligence and analytic solutions, and their extensive eVestment|HFN hedge fund platform, the new service covers over 11,000 hedge funds and funds of funds identified in the CUSIP database.

Historically, CUSIPs have been assigned to hedge funds on an ad-hoc basis. Over the past two years there has been a significant increase in requests for hedge fund CUSIPs with over 800 products uniquely identified. Now, for the first time, the CUSIP hedge fund universe is available in a single service.

"The Hedge Fund Service demonstrates CGS' expansion of its mission to help market participants uniquely identify financial instruments. CGS is pleased to work with eVestment to expand our asset class coverage, and to address a long-standing industry need.  With increased oversight by regulators, unique identification of hedge funds can only benefit industry participants," said Jim Taylor, CGS Managing Director. "eVestment brings an impressive level of expertise to the specialized hedge fund market."

Unique identification of hedge funds has multiple benefits for those who follow the industry.  Investors will be able to speed investment research and more easily track prospective and current investments. Service providers will see substantially improved communications among fund administrators, portfolio managers and their business relationships.

According to Peter Laurelli, eVestment Vice-President, "eVestment has developed significant relationships with leading hedge fund managers over the years. We see the need for a recognized universal numbering system that will benefit the industry as well as the institutional investors we serve."

The CGS Hedge Fund Service contains 9-character CUSIP and CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) and 12- character ISIN identifiers plus basic descriptive data on the funds and, where available, fund-specific data including fund address, country of incorporation, investment strategy, investment region and redemption features. Available as a bulk delivery file, the service is updated weekly with a master refresh file.

About CUSIP Global Services
For 40 years CUSIP Global Services has provided a unique common language for identifying financial instruments across institutions, exchanges and nations, enabling financial services firms to benefit from improved operating efficiencies and substantially reduced administrative costs. CUSIP Global Services is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association by S&P Capital IQ. For more information, visit www.cusip.com.

About eVestment
eVestment is a global provider of institutional investment data intelligence and analytic solutions. eVestment delivers extensive separate account, hedge fund and commingled fund data through robust, user-friendly products, with an unparalleled commitment to client service. Its diverse clients include leading investment consultants, asset managers, plan sponsors and others among the world's foremost financial organizations.  The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in New York, London, Sydney, Hong Kong and regional sales offices in Boston, Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, Toronto and Raleigh. For more information, visit www.evestment.com.

For More Information:

Michael Privitera
Vice President, Public Affairs
S&P Capital IQ
(212) 438-6679
Michael_Privitera@spcapitaliq.com

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services