Emerging Asia-focused hedge funds are on course to record  their worst annual returns since the global financial crisis of 2008 after posting big losses in September, according to a report by the International Business Times. The report cites information from data provider HFR as showing that the HFRI Asia ex-Japan Index slumped 7.7% in September, the worst single month performance since March 2020. Q3 performance cams in at -10.4%, compared with a 4% decline in the previous quarter.  The index is down 22.8% in the first nine months of the year, its biggest decline since a 26.4% fall over the

Hedge funds faced a tough September amid a market downturn that saw major indices fall steeply over the course of the month, according to the latest monthly hedge fund update from Citco. The overall weighted return for hedge funds administered by Citco fell to -3.1% from the -0.6% seen in the previous month. Commodities and global macro funds were the top performers, with positive returns of 1.9% and 1.8% respectively, while equities and multi-strategy provided some of the weakest returns with respective weighted average returns of -2.8% and -5.6%. Larger funds fared worse than their smaller counterparts with those in the

Boston-based asset manager Acadian has secured its first US institutional investor in its Sustainable Global strategy, with a seed investment from sustainability-focused allocator McKnight Foundation.   Acadian has long been active in the ESG space and was the first systematic investment manager to sign the UN PRI in 2009. Acadian has been managing dedicated Sustainable portfolios since 2005. Other responsible investing solutions include the Emerging Markets ex-Fossil Fuel strategy incepted in 2016, as well as a significant portion of assets under management with client-driven ESG tilts—which the firm has been implementing to varying degrees since the 1990s. The strategy employs

Ongoing financial market disruption and geopolitical challenges are helping trend following hedge funds to register big returns, with Graham Capital Management, Aspect Capital, AlphaSimplex and AQR Capital Management all near or over 40% up so far in 2022, according to a report by Reuters. The report cites Yao Hua Ooi, principal and co-head of macro strategies at the $143 billion hedge fund AQR – which is up 70% YTD – as pointing out that trend strategies work best when volatility levels are high. And with stock market volatility, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index, having risen sharply since August,

Dynamic Beta investments (DBi), a New York-based hedge fund advisory firm and asset manager and a partner of the iM Global Partner (iMGP) asset management network, has surpassed $2 billion in assets under management (AUM).  iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), which launched on 8 May, 2019, has grown from $60 million at start of 2022 to the largest Managed Futures ETF in the industry at over $1 billion as of 13 October. DBMF seeks to replicate the pre-fee performance of a proprietary universe of leading managed futures hedge funds and outperform through fee/expense disintermediation. iMGP DBi Hedge Strategy

Hedge fund Light Street Capital Management has joined the growing club of stock-picking hedge funds chalking uo big losses, with the fund now down by 50% so far in 2022, according to a report by Bloomberg. The report cites unnamed sources as revealing that the fund, founder by Glen Kacher was down 6.7% in September alone, with all six of its largest US stock picks, as of the end of June,  having fallen by over 27% by the end of September.  Software company Expensify Inc, caused the biggest loss with its stock tumbling by 66%, while Datadog Inc and Cellebrite

Merger arbitrage hedge funds, which bet on the likelihood of corporate mergers and acquisitions closing, could benefit from the relentless rise of the dollar against the the yen, the euro and sterling, according to a report in the Financial Times. The strength of the dollar has boosted the buying power of investors with Greenback funding allowing them to potentially acquire foreign companies for lower cost than previously. One private equity executive even went so far as to state recently that “everything in the UK is on sale”. The report quotes Pierre di Maria, head of event-driven at Cheyne Capital in

The Vista Multistrategia Fund, one of Brazil’s top-performing hedge funds, posted a record 13% loss in September as oil prices plunged and global interest rates surged, according to a report by Bloomberg. The loss by the fund, which is managed by Rio de Janeiro-based vista capital, was the fund’s biggest since its launch in 2015.  The report cites an investor note as revealing that the Vista admitted being “significantly wrong” in its decision to use positions set to benefit from falling international rates as a hedge to protect its core bet on rising oil prices. Despite the record monthly loss,

The iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), which replicates the strategies of trend-following hedge funds, has passed the $1 billion mark having attracted net inflows of of $893 million so far in 2022, according to a report by Bloomberg. The fund, which started the year with just $60 million in assets, has returned 33% so far in 2022 amid prolonged moves in a host of assets as the US Federal Reserve ramps up interest rates to tackle soaring inflation.  Managed futures strategies, which take both long and short positions across a raft of derivatives seeking to ride price momentum

The prospect of production cuts by OPEC and its allies, have encouraged hedge funds and other money managers back into the oil market, according to a report by Reuters. The report cites regulatory records as revealing that the equivalent of 62 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts were purchased in the week ending 4 October. Crude (+46 million barrels) rather than fuels (+15 million) attracted the most activity ahead of a decision by OPEC+ on 5 October to cut the group’s combined output allocations by tow million barrels per day. Portfolio managers also purchased