Principal guaranteed savings and investment system and method

Abstract

A system and method for mass market hedge fund investing is proposed that preferably works in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury's Treasury Direct program for direct investment in U.S. Government securities. A primary investment in a principal-guaranteed, fixed term financial instrument, such as U.S. Government securities, including U.S. Notes, Bonds and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) having principal linked to the Consumer Price Index, wherein the principal is guaranteed to the extent of the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, generates an interest income stream. The interest stream is electronically diverted to a separate account within an aggregated pool invested in a hedge fund over a predetermined time horizon. The fund is preferably run by an experienced chief portfolio strategist and a money-management team.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for enabling an investor to invest in a hedge fund, the system comprising:
 a processor coupled to a memory, a graphical user interface, and a control input device;   a network in communication with a hedge fund web server and a U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer; and   a program code stored in the memory, that, when executed by the processor and in response to manipulation of the control input device, causes the processor to:
 receive through a dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface a plurality of United States Treasury financial instrument information from the U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer; 
 receive a selection via the control input device by the user for purchase of a United States Treasury financial instrument having a financial principal that generates an income stream wherein the income stream is dynamically calculated and displayed on the dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface; 
 receive a selection via the control input device by the user for a first time horizon; 
 receive hedge fund information through the dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface from the hedge fund web server by selecting a particular area on the graphical user interface; 
 receive a selection via the control input device for the hedge fund, wherein the hedge fund has a second time horizon; 
 issue shares to the investor in the hedge fund purchased with at least a portion of the income stream from the United States Treasury financial instrument before the first time horizon, wherein shares are issued automatically; and 
 wherein generated assets from the hedge fund at the second time horizon are automatically transferred by the processor to an electronic funds transfer account. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the program code causing the processor to utilize regulated savings institutions to safeguard the investor; and   employ administrative efficiency of the regulated savings institutions as effectuated by greater computer processing capabilities and redundant and secure computational resources to facilitate the timely issuance of shares.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the program code further causes the processor to reinvest interest earned from the hedge fund back into the hedge fund. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the United States Treasury financial instrument is selected from the group of securities consisting of: Certificates of Deposit, U.S. Notes, U.S. Bonds, Treasury bills, or U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the program code further causes the processor to redeem the United States Treasury financial instrument at a time other than the first time horizon and to charge a penalty for redemption. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the program code further causes the processor to redeem the hedge fund shares at other than the second time horizon and to charge a penalty for redemption. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the program code further causes the processor to periodically update a net asset value per share of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the program code further causes the processor to display dynamically the periodically updated net asset value per share of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         9 . A method for enabling an investor to invest in a hedge fund, the method comprising:
 selecting, by a control input device coupled to a processor, a United States Treasury financial instrument received from a U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer in network communication with the processor displayed on a graphical user interface dynamically having a selectable first time horizon and a financial principal generates an income stream;   selecting, by the control input device, the hedge fund received from a hedge fund web server in network communication with the processor from a plurality of hedge funds dynamically updated on the graphical user interface, wherein the hedge fund has a selectable second time horizon different from the first time horizon;   issuing automatically, by the processor via the hedge fund web server, shares to the investor in the hedge fund purchased with at least a portion of the income stream from the United States Treasury financial instrument via the U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer before the first time horizon; and   redeeming shares gained from the hedge fund automatically via the processor in network communication with the hedge fund web server transferring automatically the redeemed shares gained to an electronic funds transfer account.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein redeeming the shares gained from the hedge fund occurs at the second time horizon. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the United States Treasury financial instrument is selected from the group of securities consisting of: Certificates of Deposit, U.S. Notes, U.S. Bonds, Treasury bills, and U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the processor redeeming the hedge fund shares at a time other than the second time horizon and charging a penalty for redemption. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the processor redeeming the United States Treasury financial instrument at a time other than the first time horizon and charging a penalty for redemption. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the selectable second time horizon is restricted to options that are later in time than the selectable first time horizon. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the processor periodically updating a net asset value per share of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising dynamically displaying the updated net asset value per share of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the processor periodically updating per share management fees of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising dynamically displaying the updated per share management fees of the hedge fund shares. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the processor redeeming the principal of the United States Treasury financial instrument at the first time horizon. 
     
     
         20 . A system for enabling an investor to invest in a hedge fund, the system comprising:
 a processor coupled to a memory, a graphical user interface, and a control input device;   a network in communication with a plurality of hedge fund web servers and a U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer; and   a program code stored in the memory, that, when executed by the processor and in response to manipulation of the control input device, causes the processor to:
 receive through a dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface a plurality of United States Treasury financial instrument information from the U.S. Treasury Department Direct computer; 
 receive a selection via the control input device by the user for purchase of a United States Treasury financial instrument having a first time horizon and a financial principal that generates an income stream wherein the income stream is dynamically calculated and displayed on the dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface; 
   receive fund of funds information through the dynamic display portion of the graphical user interface from the hedge fund web server by selecting a particular area on the graphical user interface, wherein the fund of funds comprises a plurality of hedge funds;
 receive a selection via the control input device for the fund of funds, 
 wherein the fund of funds has a second time horizon different from the first time horizon by selecting a particular area on the graphical user interface; 
 issue shares to the investor in the fund of funds purchased with at least a portion of the income stream from the United States Treasury financial instrument before the first time horizon, wherein shares are issued automatically; 
 the program code causing the processor to utilize regulated savings institutions to safeguard the investor; 
 the program code opting to use the administrative efficiency of the regulated savings institutions as effectuated by greater computer processing capabilities and redundant and secure computational resources to facilitate the timely issuance of shares; and 
 wherein generated assets are automatically transferred by the processor to an electronic funds transfer account.