Michael Hintze, founder and chief executive of USD11.8billion hedge fund firm CQS, believes that while Asia markets have moved on since the crisis the knock-on effects from events in the West this year will likely lead to volatility, reported AsianInvestor this week. Asia will not be immune to overseas market swings but it should be better positioned to deal with slowdowns in the market with Hintze quoted as saying: “Public debt in Asia ex-Japan’s developed markets has been coming down, whilst it’s been going up dramatically in the [West].” CQS has several funds with exposure to Asia, in particular the firm’s multi-strategy Asia Fund, which it has been managing out of its Hong Kong office since 2007. Hintze said that he was happy taking directional positions and was “very constructive on the Asia market” but noted that it wasn’t risk-free and that there was a real problem with volatility in the region. Although hedging in an Asian fixed income fund is not straightforward and somewhat of a challenge, Hintze noted: “Because of the inability to hedge specific names, the marketplace has adjusted. On a risk-reward basis it is quite attractive, but the question is, where you have the risk, is the reward appropriately sized? I think it is.”