Released on = July 4, 2007, 4:35 pm

Press Release Author = Public Watchdog

Industry = Financial

Press Release Summary = New York securities lawyer, Hartley Bernstein, asks whether
the recent suspension of withdrawals by The Horizon ABS Fund will push investors to
the courthouse steps.

Press Release Body = Wall Street watchdog, lawyer Hartley Bernstein, warns that
frustrated investors "could soon be running up the courthouse steps if hedge funds
refuse to allow them to withdraw their money." Mr. Bernstein's offered these remarks
shortly after the Horizon ABS Fund, which specializes in bonds backed by home loans,
announced that it had suspended redemptions by investors. Ordinarily, the Horizon
ABS Fund allows investors to redeem their stakes in the fund once a quarter on 90
days notice. But, for now, that opportunity has been denied.

In an article published on StockPatrol.com, Mr. Bernstein, a partner in the New York
law firm, Bernstein & Cherney, LLP, which represents investors who have suffered
investment losses, likened growing hedge fund concerns to an impending natural
disaster. "Imagine you were standing at the center of a beautiful, tranquil,
ice-covered pond, Mr. Bernstein suggested. "Suddenly cracks begin to appear on the
surface, in every direction.You want to get off safely, but you know that with each
step the tiny cracks will become fissures, the ice will begin to break, and order
will be replaced by chaos. You contemplate the prospect of plunging into the
freezing water and wonder, is there any hope of escape."

"Now," Mr. Bernstein suggests, "consider an equally disturbing scenario. You have
invested in a highly-leveraged hedge fund.The fund has grown significantly in recent
years.but there is cause for concern. The fund's assets are tied up in illiquid
assets, like, for instance, sub prime mortgages. The fund managers have leveraged
your investment by borrowing from investment banks and other financial institutions.
Those lenders have been getting nervous - quite understandable as sub-prime
mortgages fail with increasing frequency and confidence in the mortgage market
continues to decline. Small cracks, to be sure. But are they signs of fissures to
come?"

Horizon ABS Fund supposedly was up about 40% last year. That "might leave investors
feeling quite flush - if they could get their hands on their money," Mr. Bernstein
noted. Meanwhile, at least some of the benefits of the Fund's extraordinary growth
could soon be lost. United Capital Markets Holdings, Inc. a Key Biscayne, Florida
firm that oversees the Fund says that assets declined in value in April and May;
further losses are expected for June and the entire year. "For now," Bernstein
stated, "investors can only watch their assets decline.and wonder when they finally
will be allowed to remove their funds."

This drastic action by the Horizon ABS-Fund reportedly come on the heels of a
request for withdrawal by one investor, who accounted for approximately one quarter
of the Fund's purported $650 million assets. Horizon ABS Fund investors may be
asking why the Fund would allow itself to be so significantly dominated by a single
investor who could jeopardize the stability of the Fund if he elected to collect his
money and leave the table.

The Horizon ABS Fund is just one of the investment products under the Horizon
umbrella, managed by John Devaney, who runs United Capital Markets Holdings, Inc.
Devaney has gained a measure of celebrity by throwing lavish parties at industry
conferences, reportedly featuring entertainers like comedian David Spade and Tonight
Show host Jay Leno, and rock stars such as Counting Crows, ZZ Top and Blues
Traveler.

According to a Bloomberg report on July 3, 2007, Horizon funds "last month sold off
a 'large amount' of securities and also closed out derivative bets on
subprime-mortgage bonds at a loss." That, as Bloomberg explained, is in keeping with
Devaney\'s stated strategy, which "is to buy subprime-mortgage bonds and other
asset-backed securities when they\'ve fallen out of favor."

"Lenders may not be willing to share this aggressive approach to shaky markets,"
according to Mr. Bernstein. As fund assets become increasingly concentrated in dicey
illiquid securities, he notes that "uneasy lenders may call for more collateral."
Sub prime mortgages certainly have fallen from favor in recent weeks, as evidenced
by the near-collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds late last month. One of the
Bear Stearns funds reportedly suspended redemptions in May. Merrill Lynch & Co.
seized about $800 million in mortgage securities from the Bear Stearns funds

United Capital says that Merrill Lynch is the prime broker for the Horizon ABS Fund.

In a statement, United Capital said that it expects "to resume processing these
redemptions as soon as is prudent, which we hope will be in the very near term."

Will that be enough to keep angered investors at bay? Or will they soon be dialing
their attorneys? "At some point," Mr. Bernstein said, "investors will grow weary of
the cracking ice and take steps to protect themselves from the icy plunge."



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