In its latest survey on the growing market for Alternative UCITS, ML Capital observed a dramatic increase in demand for CTAs, which is at an all-time high, with 57% of respondents committed to the sector.
ML Capital surveyed a diverse range of active Alternative UCITS investors, who collectively manage EUR80 billion and today invest upwards of EUR30 billion into Alternative UCITS products.
Allocations to CTA’s and Global Macro strategies are set to continue to increase dramatically. The largest increase in allocations are to Global Macro systematic and CTA strategies, both of which saw demand almost double over the last quarter from 30% to almost 60%.
Demand for developed equity market hedge strategies has declined noticeably since the beginning of 2011 and interest in Event Driven strategies has also been quite negative.
There is however a significant push into emerging markets funds underway – with 39% of respondents indicating a desire to move into global emerging markets UCITS funds.
The two least popular categories this quarter are UK L/S and distressed.
Commenting on the latest survey, John Lowry (pictured), Co-Founder and Chairman of ML Capital, says: “During this quarter, when respondents’ allocations to UCITS rose dramatically from 10 to 30 billion, the increase in market volatility has seen a big shift towards those strategies that offer the potential to make money, or at least protect a significant element of the markets’ risk.”
