Alternative investment firm Hatteras continued to prep for its acquisition of a majority stake in AIP Mutual Funds with the formal appointment of a new member of its executive team. Hatteras revealed Thursday that it will add Robert Murphy to firm in the newly created position of director of risk management for AIP, which acts as the investment advisor to the AIP mutual funds. Murphy joins the firm from Ivy Asset Management, where he served as managing director in the investments and investment products and strategy group and sat as chairman of the firm's multi-disciplinary risk management committee. Murphy has also served as a partner and director of risk management at Meridian Capital Partners.

Hatteras CEO David Perkins told The MFWire last week that the alternatives firm would be adding a director of risk management for AIP's Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund and Beta Hedged Strategies Fund. The two funds have roughly $300 million in combined assets and use a multi-manager strategy to access alternative investment strategies (see the MFWire, 7/09/09).

Hatteras entered into a definitive agreement with AIP July 7, and the transaction is expected to be completed in August.

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COMPANY PRESS RELEASE

Hatteras Funds Appoints Robert Murphy Director of Risk Management for AIP

RALEIGH, N.C. - Hatteras Funds, a leading provider of unique alternative investment solutions for financial professionals, today announced the appointment of Robert Murphy to the new position of Director of Risk Management for Alternative Investment Partners, LLC, (AIP) the investment advisor to AIP Mutual Funds. On July 7, 2009, Hatteras entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in AIP and the transaction is expected to be completed in August. Murphy was a former Managing Director at Ivy Asset Management LLC.

In this new leadership position, Murphy will be responsible for risk management for the AIP Mutual Funds, including implementation of a rigorous institutionalized risk management process for the AIP Mutual Funds, which provide a fund-of-hedge funds strategy in open-end mutual funds. Murphy will also be responsible for creating, maintaining and improving risk reporting for investment related activity at the company.

“Bob Murphy brings a wealth of hedge fund and risk management knowledge to the Hatteras team. His 26 years of experience will add value for our clients bringing them best-in-class risk reporting and consulting, and he will help develop new products that should meet the needs of this new era of financial services,” said Hatteras chief executive David Perkins. Lee Schultheis, CEO of AIP noted, “We’re excited about the enhancements he’ll bring to AIP in advising the AIP Mutual Funds, and the contributions he’ll make to the firm across the board.”

Murphy joins Hatteras from Ivy Asset Management LLC, a division of BNY Mellon Asset Management, where he was a Managing Director working in the Investments and Investment Products and Strategy groups and was responsible for investment research and assisted with product development and portfolio management. Prior to joining Ivy Asset Management in 2008, Murphy was a Partner and Director of Risk Management at Meridian Capital Partners, where he worked in various senior capacities since 2001. At the time of his departure in 2008, he was in charge of Meridian Capital’s quantitative research and risk management functions and served as Chairman of the firm’s Multi-Disciplinary Risk Management Committee.

Previously, Murphy held senior fixed income investment banking positions with A.G. Edwards, Cowen & Company, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. Murphy received his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from the State University of New York at Albany. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder (CFA) and has also earned the right to use the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. Murphy will be based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

About Hatteras Funds

Hatteras strives to be a world-class provider of unique alternative investment solutions for financial professionals. Hatteras and its affiliated entities were founded in 2003 to give investors the ability to access institutional-quality alternative investments with confidence. Hatteras partners with alternative investment teams whose unique skill, experience and investment focus enable us to design, structure and deliver investment products that solve specific portfolio needs. We empower investors by delivering the strategies, managers, process discipline and quality that are typically only available to portfolios with more than $1 billion in assets. Hatteras Funds and its affiliated companies had $1.3 billion in assets under management as of May 31, 2009. For more information about Hatteras Funds visit http://www.hatterasfunds.com.

About AIP

Founded in 2002, Alternative Investment Partners, LLC, the investment advisor to AIP Mutual Funds is a provider of open-end mutual funds of hedge fund strategies. Its two funds, Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (TICKER SYMBOL: ALPHX) and Beta Hedged Strategies Fund (TICKER SYMBOL: BETAX), employ a multi-manager approach to a variety of hedged alternative investment strategies. Each strategy is managed in a liquid portfolio of its own securities, using the limited amounts of leverage and short-selling allowable in open-end mutual funds.

The Funds utilize the talents of highly specialized hedge fund managers as sub-advisors in executing their alternative investment strategies. With features inherent in mutual funds – daily liquidity, access and no investor qualification – they allow a wider range of investors to access the portfolio diversification benefits of hedge funds, and still have those investments be liquid. The Funds provide broad exposure to a variety of active management hedged strategies.

AIP managed approximately $300 million in assets as of June 30, 2009.

For more information about AIP Funds visit http://www.aipfunds.com  

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