PFG Announces 'CTA Challenge 2003' Winners

    CHICAGO, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (PFG), in
 cooperation with Trader Source, Inc. (TSI), today announced Villano Capital
 and Arthur Aschauer as the winners of the "CTA Challenge 2003."  Trading firm
 Villano Capital receives a $1 million allocation as first place winner, and
 will take the next step into managed funds with the investment from PFG and
 TSI.  Mr. Aschauer, a private individual, will also receive an allocation from
 one of PFG's proprietary accounts for his close, second-place finish in the
 competition.
     The Challenge began in May 2003 and ended on October 30.  It was the first
 product of the alliance between PFG and TSI, an initiative to develop emerging
 Commodity Trading Advisors -- those managing less than $10 million in assets.
 The goal of CTA Challenge 2003 was to give entrants a chance to showcase their
 skills and talents to PFG and TSI.
     Villano Capital achieved a 26.39 percent total risk-adjusted return for
 the six-month period, with 1.28 percent daily standard deviation.  Led by
 principal Richard Villano, Villano Capital traded a global diversified,
 systematic, trend-following program that uses 60 different futures contracts.
 The sectors represented by those futures contracts traded on a variety of
 global exchanges include currency, metals, interest rates, grains, energy, and
 softs.  Aschauer's return of 71.46 percent for the duration of the CTA
 Challenge 2003 was offset by a higher risk-adjusted volatility of 3.98 percent
 standard daily deviation.
     Announcing the CTA Challenge 2003 results, PFG President Neil J. Aslin
 said the contest results were in line with expectations and that the Challenge
 would be offered again in 2004.  "Our objectives in launching the CTA
 Challenge 2003 were to identify quality emerging fund managers, and to
 increase distribution of a portfolio of managed products that are ideal for
 both institutional and retail markets, ranging from single-manager to
 multiple-CTA-managed accounts and funds.  Villano Capital will now be added to
 our manager line-up as we continue to press further into the area of
 structuring high-return, low-volatility products managed by specially selected
 multiple CTAs with low performance correlations."
     "We see this as an extremely important and growing area of our futures and
 securities business," Aslin said.
     TSI, a registered Commodity Pool Operator and Commodity Trading Advisor,
 has an established track record of identifying and providing exposure for
 emerging CTAs to increase their assets under management.  Noted David Welch,
 TSI president and CEO, "The PFG/TSI alliance increases our ability to
 distribute quality, institutional-type alternative investments to retail
 investors, whose needs to date have been largely unaddressed.  We believe our
 strengths in identifying and developing quality alternative managers,
 particularly in the CTA area, coupled with PFG's distribution strengths, fill
 a significant void in the marketplace.  The CTA world has been largely
 neglected by major institutions, which have focused their sights on the larger
 hedge fund class without recognizing that many of the premier closed hedge
 funds started out as CTAs.  The strategic alliance with PFG is an important
 step in filling this void."
     PFG is a futures commission merchant with brokerage and branch offices
 around the world.  It offers a diverse range of trading and investor products
 and services.  The company, headquartered in Chicago, is a leader in
 alternative investment vehicles, managed funds, FOREX, broker-assisted
 trading, educational programs, research, and direct, online futures trading
 through BEST Direct.  For more information, visit www.pfgbest.com .
 
 

SOURCE  Peregrine Financial Group, Inc.