MSCI Barra, a provider of indices and portfolio risk and performance analytics, is to launch its Asia-Pacific Hedge Fund OPTIX index, an investable hedge fund index designed to reflect the overall structure and composition of the Asia-Pacific hedge fund universe. The index has been licensed to Natixis Alternative Investments of France to form the basis of index-linked products. Index constituents will be selected from the NAI hedge fund platform where the day-to-day investment management of the funds is performed by external hedge fund managers. The index will comprise only funds open to new subscriptions. NAI, working with SPARX International (Hong Kong), will be responsible for selecting and conducting due diligence on the hedge fund managers. NAI will also monitor the investment mandate of each managed fund. Henry Fernandez, chairman and chief executive of MSCI Barra, said: “The index is designed to serve as the basis of index-linked financial products, such as funds, derivatives, and structured products.” Calculation of the index is expected to begin in March 2008 and it is expected to launch with around 20 constituent funds.