Man Group Predicts Little Harm From Short-Selling Ban

By Ambereen Choudhury

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager, said its flagship fund doesn't expect to be hurt by last week's ban on short selling.

The AHL fund isn't ``expecting to be impacted by the recent short-selling restrictions given that its core program trades its equity component through stock indices,'' the London-based company said today in a statement.

The U.K.'s Financial Services Authority introduced emergency measures last week after politicians and some investors blamed short sellers for a plunge in shares of HBOS Plc, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender, which had to be rescued with a buyout from Lloyds TSB. Under the rules, investors can't take new short positions in U.K.-listed financial services companies. Existing short positions can't be increased.

The net asset value for Man AHL Diversified Futures was $34.89 in the week to Sept. 22, a decline of 3.4 percent over the previous week. The fund has increased 18.3 percent during the last 12 months, the firm said in a separate statement.

Man said it doesn't expect any ``material impact'' from its counterparty exposures to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. or American International Group Inc.

Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can buy or sell any assets and participate substantially in profits from money invested.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ambereen Choudhury in London at achoudhury@bloomberg.net