Salida Capital expands fund offerings in Canada: Strategic Growth Fund,
Global Energy Fund and Wealth Preservation Fund join Canada's No. 1 ranked
Salida Multi Strategy Fund

TORONTO , Dec. 10 /CNW/ - Salida Capital, one of Canada's leading alternative investment management firms, is pleased to announce the Canadian launch of 3 funds; the Strategic Growth Fund, Global Energy Fund, and Wealth Preservation Fund. These funds join Salida Capital's Canadian flagship fund, the Salida Multi Strategy Fund, whose five-year track record was recently ranked the No. 1 performing fund in Canada by The Globe and Mail.

"As a Canadian-owned firm with a strong global client base, we are increasing our focus on the Canadian marketplace," comments Courtenay Wolfe, President and CEO of Salida Capital. "With our Canadian Multi Strategy Fund achieving its strong five-year track record, we feel now is an opportune time to introduce additional products to Canadian investors that best capitalize on our investment expertise. Our new funds are positioned to take advantage of the growing opportunities that we see in the natural resources and precious metals space."

About the Salida Canadian Funds

With the flagship Multi Strategy Fund being joined by three new funds, Salida's Canadian product line up expands to four. All funds are opportunistically driven and currently have a long bias and emphasis on natural resources and precious metals equities - a reflection of the investment team's current macro outlook.

The Strategic Growth Fund, launched in March 2009 to international investors under the BTR brand, will be the most active and concentrated of Salida's funds and aims to achieve superior performance over the mid- to long-term. The result can be seen in the BTR Strategic Growth Fund's 185.75% return since inception in March 2009 . Managed by Salida's co-founder and CIO, Danny Guy , the BTR Strategic Growth Fund is currently ranked No. 2 in the world by Barron's for its year-to-date performance. This fund is the sequel to the internationally recognized BTR Global Opportunity Fund, which was also advised by Danny Guy and delivered an average annualized return of 40.9% over its 6 year active track record from September 2002 through to July 2008 when it closed for new investment. It is primarily a long/short equity fund with the capability to invest in merger arbitrage and special situations on an opportunistic basis.

The Global Energy Fund, launched in January 2006 to international investors under the BTR brand, is focused on investment opportunities that are involved either directly or indirectly in the exploration, development, production and/or distribution of oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, or alternative energies. Both the co-founders of Salida, Danny Guy and Brad White , along with portfolio manager Brian Trenholm , began their careers almost two decades ago as energy sector analysts. Salida's expertise in this sector is demonstrated by the BTR Global Energy Fund's 193.05% return year-to-date and 28.92% average annualized return. This fund has been ranked by Barclay Hedge as the No. 2 performing fund globally in the energy sector for its 3-year annualized return. "Long term secular opportunity has emerged as developing countries attempt to secure energy sustainability to ensure their future economic growth. Our Global Energy Fund is positioned to capitalize on both the cyclical and long term secular growth trends we are seeing across the energy sector," Ms. Wolfe commented.

The third fund being launched, the Wealth Preservation Fund, is a lower volatility version of the opportunistic, active management style that Salida is known for. This fund will provide investors with access to the investment team's expertise but at a lower risk/reward objective. The Wealth Preservation Fund, to be managed by portfolio manager Brian Trenholm , aims to generate absolute returns over the long-term of two-plus years. Commenting on the third of Salida's new funds, Ms. Wolfe notes, "The Wealth Preservation Fund has grown out of investor demand. Interested investors were telling us they believe in our macro outlook, they want access to our investment expertise and management track record, but with a more conservative risk/reward profile, and higher liquidity. The Wealth Preservation Fund aims to provide investors with precisely this." The Wealth Preservation fund will target a 10-15% average annual rate of return with lower volatility than the TSX index and a 30 day liquidity option for investors.

The Multi Strategy Fund, until now the only option for Canadians looking to invest with Salida, also aims to deliver strong performance but may give up some return over the Strategic Growth Fund in order to take a more tactical approach through strategy and sector diversification. Since its November 2004 inception the fund has had a total return of 216.19% and average annualized return of 28.28%. "We are very pleased that our flagship Salida Multi Strategy Fund was recently ranked the No. 1 fund in Canada for its five-year performance. It reinforces our belief that investors need to take a long-term view on investing and demonstrates our ability to achieve our objective of delivering superior performance over that time frame," said Ms. Wolfe .

With the exception of the Multi Strategy Fund, the Salida funds provide investors with exposure to the returns of the corresponding BTR Fund. All funds have a minimum initial investment amount of $25,000 for accredited investors. The three new funds are all available at a $10,000 minimum for the first 165 accredited investors. All funds are now open for investment and available on a private placement basis only by Canadian accredited investors under applicable Canadian Securities Legislation.

Proven Investment Approach

Salida's strong eight year performance track record comes from taking an opportunistic, active approach to investing within a disciplined risk management framework. Salida's funds use a top-down, bottom-up investment approach that first concentrates on determining the correct macro themes to select the sectors and strategies on which to focus. Rigorous fundamental analysis is then conducted to seek out the best risk-adjusted investment opportunities within these specific sectors with a heavy concentration on core positions in tandem with a developing catalyst. Salida's identification of these catalyst situations has been a key contributor to returns for the funds.

Known for being a leader over the past several years in capitalizing on investment opportunities in the natural resources and precious metals arena, Salida has had strong returns year to date by capitalizing on the resurgence of investment opportunities within those sectors.

"Emerging countries are aggressively acquiring natural resources to sustain their economic growth well into the future. Many of these countries are actively looking right into Canada's backyard to secure these resources necessary to maintain their growth. We see growing opportunities in this area and we plan to continue capitalizing on them," commented Ms. Wolfe .

About Salida Capital

Founded in 2001, Salida Capital is one of Canada's leading private wealth management firms. Salida Capital is the exclusive investment advisor to the Salida funds and the BTR funds. Through private funds and separately managed accounts, Salida Capital manages over 500 million dollars for a growing global client base of family offices, high net worth individuals, institutions and fund of funds. The Salida Capital investment team is one of the leading precious metals and natural resources teams in Canada with an average of 16 years industry experience through multiple financial and commodity cycles. Salida Capital has been recognized globally through numerous awards and accreditations for delivering industry leading products and performance. Partner and employee personal capital represents a significant portion of assets under management. www.salidacapital.com.

Legal Disclaimer: The information contained in this press release is for informational purposes only and should not under any circumstances be considered to be an offering memorandum under applicable securities legislation. Past performance is no indication for future returns. Important information about these funds is contained in their applicable offering memorandum, including a detailed description of the funds' investment objectives, investment strategies and risk factors. The above information is qualified in its entirety by the applicable offering memorandum. There can be no assurance that a fund's investment objectives will be met. The returns presented above are net of management fees and performance fees, but do not take into account other fees that may apply such as early redemption fees. The funds' net asset values, net asset value per unit or share and yields will fluctuate. Investments in the funds are only available to qualified investors in Canada who purchase their investments through a registered dealer. Please contact your registered financial advisor for further information. The expected returns of the fund may be different from the actual returns. The Salida Global Energy Fund and the Salida Wealth Preservation Fund currently have no operating history or track record in Canada . Each of the Salida Strategic Growth Fund, the Salida Global Energy Fund and the Salida Wealth Preservation Fund provides investors with exposure to the returns of the BTR Strategic Growth Fund, the BTR Global Energy Fund and the BTR Wealth Preservation Fund, respectively. The returns of the Salida Strategic Growth Fund, the Salida Global Energy Fund and the Salida Wealth Preservation Fund may be different from the returns of the corresponding BTR Fund for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, applicable taxes, changes in exchange rates, differences in management and performance fees and fees for providing exposure to the returns of the corresponding BTR Fund. The BTR Global Opportunity Fund was affected by market dislocation as a result of exposure to Lehman Brothers International ( Europe ) and Lehman Brothers Inc. This fund has since ceased trading, is closed to investment, and its assets are being liquidated.

For further information: Courtenay Wolfe, President & CEO, Salida Capital, [phone], [email protected]