City Financial’s Asia Macro hedge fund, Counterpoint, has launched with over USD120m in assets, making it one of the largest Asian hedge funds – and the largest Asian macro fund – to launch in the last 12 months.
The Counterpoint Asian Macro Fund is managed by Geoffrey Barker with City Financial Investment Company (Hong Kong) Limited.
There was no seed investor and capital came from a combination of investors in Barker’s previous fund and from new investors.
The fund is a discretionary macro strategy focused on investment opportunities driven by the markets and economies of Asia-Pacific. Its investment objective is to achieve annual double-digit returns over the course of a cycle of five to seven years, with low leverage and ready liquidity.
The strategy is contrarian, value-orientated and research-driven, combining longer term strategic positions with shorter term tactical positions.
Andrew Williams, chief executive, City Financial, says: “We are pleased to report that the Fund got off to a running start in March, returning a net 1.8 per cent to Class A investors in what was a choppy month for markets.”
Barker says: “Volatility in Asian markets has presented lots of opportunities for a fund like ours. Investors can still capitalise on the region’s growth and seek double-digit returns through the fund. Most other Asian macro funds with a long-standing track record and team are closed to new capital, so capital raising success in part represents investor demand for an uncorrelated strategy with relatively few available managers.”
