Gottex Fund Management, a global alternative asset management group, has announced that its assets under management fell 12.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
Gottex Fund Management, a global alternative asset management group, has announced that its assets under management fell 12.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
The group’s AUM were USD8.5bn at 31 March 2009 compared to USD9.6bn at 31 December 2008. It says the decrease was primarily caused by the negative impact of deleveraging, other technical factors and by client redemptions.
There were no client subscriptions for the quarter, while client redemptions accounted for USD480m. Foreign exchange contributed USD30m while deleveraging and rebalancing factors reduced AUM by USD480m in Q1 2009.
Despite the positive performance of the market neutral products, overall net performance was a negative USD250m, predominantly due to mark downs in the asset-based strategies.
The group has cash reserves of USD45m and no debt.
Gottex says during Q1 2009 its core market neutral and directional products have performed better than equity markets and relevant hedge fund indices.
It also says the plans it announced in January 2009 are progressing well: the restructuring and reopening of its first major market neutral product has been successfully completed with 83 per cent of investors remaining invested; the restructuring of other market neutral and directional products is on track for reopening in June 2009; and it has received positive feedback for the launch of Gottex Solutions Services.
Joachim Gottschalk, chairman and chief executive (pictured), says: ‘It is encouraging to see some liquidity returning to the financial markets and our portfolios. Nevertheless, we continue to be cautious about the short term outlook, which we expect to remain volatile. Looking forward, we believe that there are major alpha opportunities ahead of us with only a limited number of well-capitalised, experienced firms able to capture this potential on behalf of their clients. Our strong debt free balance sheet, our global coverage and our predominantly institutional client base will enable us to benefit from the expected consolidation and convergence in the hedge fund industry.’
