Gottex Fund Management, an alternative asset management group, had total fee-earning assets of USD7.26bn at 30 June 2010, down 8.3 per cent from 31 March 2010.
This total consisted of USD6.8bn in assets under management and GSS assets of USD0.45bn.
The decrease was largely driven by a USD410m negative impact from foreign exchange movements and technical factors (USD120m), performance (USD140mn) and returning cash to investors in run-off share classes (USD150m).
Total subscriptions for the quarter amounted to USD60m, whilst client redemptions accounted for USD310m.
Gottex won USD560m of new business in Q2 2010, most of which is expected to fund in Q3 2010.
Gottex has continued to return capital to redeeming investors through the Gottex run-off share classes and these investors have on average received nearly 90 per cent of their original holdings in cash as at 30 June 2010; as at this date, the AUM contained in the run-off share classes amounted to USD250m.
Market neutral strategies posted positive performance year to date, outperforming many fund of hedge funds and equity indices, the latter declining substantially in Q2 2010.
Joachim Gottschalk, chairman and chief executive, says: “The second quarter of 2010 turned out to be a challenging environment across all financial markets, which has severely impacted returns for equity investors. Hedge funds suffered as well, but by far less with their returns generally flat for the year to date, so providing downside protection. Against this backdrop we are pleased that our flagship market neutral strategies have shown positive performance in the year to date. However, the general volatility has affected the propensity of institutional investors to make asset allocation decisions and as such asset raising efforts have become more prolonged.
“I am pleased with the progress made against the key initiatives we set out for 2010. GSS has secured a major mandate in Q2 and is in advanced discussions with other external clients. Our US onshore multi-asset endowment style products have now been approved by US bank platforms ready for distribution in the fourth quarter of 2010. Furthermore, we launched our Ucits III fund of funds product in Luxembourg earlier this month and are now in the process of ‘passporting’ this fund to the major European markets.”
