Hedge fund assets have soared to almost USD4 trillion this year, and new research published this week indicates more investors are set to tilt towards alternatives to protect portfolio performance during the second half of the year.
Alternatives technology provider Vidrio Financial quizzed some 4,500 institutional investors in North America and EMEA late last month, and found that one in 10 allocators have “significantly adjusted” allocations in response to inflation concerns, while a further two-thirds – 70 per cent – have made “moderate adjustments.”
Further afield, Australia’s hedge fund investor sentiment is spotlighted in a deep-dive feature by Hedgeweek’s Clara Dijkstra. Wary of the looming spectre of inflation, and mindful of hedge funds’ robust performance throughout the Covid crisis, antipodean allocators are showing increasing interest in the sector overall, with opportunities emerging in the merger arbitrage space proving a key area of interest.
Against this backdrop of growing market uncertainty and investor demand for uncorrelated returns, systematic hedge fund and CTA pioneer Aspect Capital has unveiled a new daily-liquid UCITS-compliant version of its Aspect Core Diversified Programme.
The computer-driven medium-term trend-following fund, which originally launched in 2014, will trade more than 100 liquid financial and commodity markets, starts with some USD40 million of external capital.
Sustainable investing is now a “strategic priority” for Ray Dalio’s hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates. The world’s largest hedge fund has launched a new multi-asset UCITS strategy which invests in assets that meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Lyxor/Bridgewater All Weather Sustainability Fund – which is managed by Lyxor Asset Management and sub-advised by Bridgewater – uses Bridgewater’s pioneering quantitative research process to build its positions.
In light of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, coupled with the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women, minorities and disadvantaged groups, and continued calls for improved diversity and representation in hedge funds’ boardrooms, the Alternative Investment Management Association has published a new paper on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Titled ‘How to be an Ally: Stories from the Hedge Fund Industry’, the paper comprises several personal perspectives and stories from across the hedge fund industry, and sets out practical measures on how asset managers and other firms can be betters allies to colleagues from minority or underrepresented groups.
In this week’s feature interview, Geraud Charpin, Senior Portfolio Manager at BlueBay Asset Management in London, discusses how the firm’s Global Credit Alpha Long/Short strategy has thrived in an often-tricky environment for credit markets. Since launching in November 2011, the strategy has yet to suffer a down year, and Charpin remains buoyant on the potential opportunities that lie ahead for the strategy’s active, catalyst-driven approach.
Hugh Leask
Editor, Hedgeweek