Quantamental active asset manager Stouff Capital has doubled its assets under management over the past twelve months, and is aiming to launch a new global macro absolute return fund in Q1 2022.
During an extraordinary period of market turbulence, Stouff Capital exceeded its performance goal during the three years since its inception. The Geneva-based investment business generated a net performance of 25 per cent with volatility of one-third the market level. The strategy was able to take advantage of two significant falls in the market thanks to an asymmetric return profile.
Due to its responsiveness, the approach has been particularly effective since April 2020 with the influx of the so-called “Robinhood traders”, and provided a net return of 10 per cent in USD over 2021, with a maximum 35 per cent net exposure. This performance was largely driven by the stock selection methodology. The long quantamental global portfolio outperformed by 25 per cent over three years, rising 68 per cent versus 44.5 per cent for global equities. Year-to-date it rose by 25 per cent versus 17.6 per cent. Shorts, useful in range-trading and bear markets, were the strongest contributors of alpha.
Stouff Capital has also increased its headcount with the arrival of Julien Bittel, Senior Portfolio Manager, who joined the business from Pictet Asset Management. Bittel will focus on global equities, bonds, credit markets, FX and also crypto assets, accessed through an all-weather strategy.
Stouff Capital has also hired Hamadoun Sidibe as Risk Manager. Sidibe was introduced to the business via its quantitative test in conjunction with the HEC Lausanne Junior enterprise business game.
Julien Stouff, CEO of Stouff Capital, says: “We are delighted to welcome the talented Julien Bittel and Hamadoun Sidibe and look forward to launching our innovative unconstrained Macro Absolute Return Fund with double-digit target. We aim to reach USD200 million by the end of 2022 across the two funds, bespoke mandates, and an innovative crypto hedge fund.”
