| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MARCH 8, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- READERS REPORT
A Little Bit Better Than the Average Fund (int'l edition) In ''Offshore funds: Asia shakes the flu'' (Finance, Feb. 1), your extensive coverage of the Asian and South American economies and markets gave good insight into why the funds invested there did badly in 1998. However, you did not mention why the Hermes Egypt Fund was included in your ''Worst List.'' First, in 1998, the Egyptian stock market, having been affected by the events that you explained in your article, was hit negatively. Second, the IFC Egypt Index (in local currency) had a negative return of 30.72% for 1998. We outperformed it by 14.62%. Finally, the returns for the fourth quarter, 1998, for the Hermes Egypt Fund were minus 5.63%, not 6.28% as you quoted in your table; and for the whole year the returns were negative 16.10%, not 18.03%. Sherif Salem EFG-Hermes Asset Management Giza, Egypt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
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