Tano Capital moves commodity hedge fund from US to Singapore

SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S.-based Tano Capital, a family office managed by a descendent of Franklin Templeton founder Rupert Johnson Sr, has moved the domicile of one of its funds to Singapore in a bet the local dollar will make further gains versus the greenback.

Tano's $80 million Global Hard Asset Fund, a long-short fund that invests in commodity stocks and commodity futures, is now denominated in Singapore dollars so that cash balances will be held in a stronger currency, Tano founder Charles Johnson told Reuters.

"We are often long and short a lot of stocks and we end up holding a lot of cash. If it had been in Singapore dollars, the returns would have been a lot higher," said Johnson, grandson of Rupert Johnson and former co-president of Franklin Resources , the holding company for Franklin Templeton.

Singapore manages monetary policy through the exchange rate and the Monetary Authority of Singapore's current stance is for a modest and gradual appreciation of the local dollar. [ID:nL3E7FD1TO]

The Singapore dollar has risen about 4.5 percent against the dollar this year, following a near 9 percent rise in 2010.

San Mateo, California-based Tano, which opened its Singapore office last week, manages about $400 million. (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)