New York-based hedge fund firm Gondor Capital Management says that remaining disciplined in its research and carrying out the proper execution of its strategies has enabled it to consistently deliver strong returns.
Vincent Au, portfolio manager of Gondor Capital says that his onshore hedge fund Gondor Partners, LP returned 13.86 per cent in the first seven months of this year (+1.74 per cent in July) while his offshore fund, the Gondor Partners, Ltd, generated 12.28 per cent gains during the same period (+1.74 per cent in July).
“By remaining disciplined in my research and the execution of the strategy [I could continue generating solid gains],” Au says commenting on how he has managed to keep consistently strong returns since September 2015. The last time both funds reported negative gains was in August 2015 when the domestic hedge fund suffered a 0.11 per cent loss while Gondor Partners, Ltd, lost 1.19 per cent during the month. However, both hedge funds still closed 2015 with double-digit gains of 12.18 per cent and 10.61 per cent profits respectively.
Gondor’s consistent performance is in contrast to the realities of some of the biggest hedge funds that have lost money this year, even as the markets have been hitting record highs. The world’s largest hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates and Two Sigma reported sharp losses in their hedge funds last month.
Both fund managers reported weak performance even as the S&P 500 delivered 10.4 per cent in July. Even data from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed that 4 per cent of active managers outperformed their benchmark Russell 1000 index in the first half of 2017.
Au says: “I strongly believe the performance of each fund will be based on the manager’s skills and the strategy they employ. The media puts a significant spotlight on the big funds though I would assume there are small funds that also don’t perform well.”
Coming into the third quarter, Gondor is looking at opportunities in industrials and technology.
Because of the reliable performance of Gondor, Au says that his hedge funds are starting to receive numerous inquiries, particularly due to the recent recognitions from BarclayHedge and Preqin ranking Gondor Capital as a top fund in the space.
“Thus, we recently started the process of reconstructing our marketing materials in hopes of raising new assets,” Au says. But he admits that fund-raising for small funds has been hard, is hard and will be hard.
“As Robin Williams said in Dead Poets Society ‘Twas always thus, and always thus will be.’ Speaking only for me, I don’t have the pedigree, the brand name recognition, the Rolodex for connections and the financial resources to hire internal marketers. However, all those aforementioned reasons have only motivated me to work harder and even to a certain degree obsess about the performance of the Gondor funds. I cannot control the markets and the fund’s results, but I can control my work ethic and my character absolutely refuses to allow me to lose and be outperformed by others because of effort.”
