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Credit Suisse’s mid-year Hedge Fund Investor Sentiment Survey sheds light on views of 200 institutional investors

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Credit Suisse has announced the results of its mid-year Hedge Fund Investor Sentiment Survey, which polled over 200 global institutional investors representing nearly USD700 billion in hedge fund investments. 

This survey follows Credit Suisse's Annual Global Investor Sentiment Survey published in March 2015.

Participants were surveyed on their current strategy appetite and allocation activity. 93 per cent indicated that they plan to maintain or increase hedge fund allocations during the second half of this year. The top three preferred investment strategies by region were:

• Americas: Equity Long/Short (56 per cent), Event Driven (47 per cent) and Global Macro (38 per cent)
• EMEA: Global Macro (54 per cent), Equity Long/Short (46 per cent) and Event Driven (43 per cent)
• APAC: Global Macro (44 per cent), Multi-Strategy (44 per cent) and Credit Long/Short (39 per cent)

Robert Leonard (pictured), Managing Director and Global Head of Capital Services at Credit Suisse, says: "Despite ongoing volatility in the global marketplace, institutional investors remain steadfast in their approach to hedge fund allocations. 

“At the mid-year mark, Global Macro continues to be the most favored strategy by institutional investors globally, as it was at the start of the year.  Interest in Event Driven and Equity Long/Short strategies also remains high. 

“One of the more notable developments from our annual survey conducted earlier this year is the marked increase in interest around Multi-Strategy funds, reflecting investor's reaction to the fast changing investment environment we are experiencing at this time."

Global Macro (46 per cent) retained the top spot in the survey – and was also the most popular selection in the Annual Survey. This was the only strategy to rank among the top three investor preferences in all regions. The ability to capitalise on macroeconomic opportunities, eg a potential Fed rate increase, appears to be driving its popularity.

Event Driven (44 per cent) remained the second most popular strategy among global investors surveyed, while appetite for Equity Long/Short (43 per cent) increased to 3rd position, after ranking 4th in the annual survey.  Interest in Multi-Strategy (32 per cent) had one of the biggest positive swings, moving from 14th place to 6th place in the mid-year survey.  

CTA/Managed Futures saw one of the largest declines at this mid-year point, moving down from the 3rd most sought after strategy in our annual survey to 9th place at mid-year.  Increasing concerns about China's economy appear to be a significant factor in this lower ranking.

In the first half of 2015, investors most actively allocated to the traditional Master/Feeder (Onshore/Offshore) structure, Managed Accounts and UCITS funds.   Looking to the second half of the year, investors report higher appetite for UCITS and Managed Account products, as well as Co-investment structures for Equities.

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