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With the exception of a stable CTA Global strategy and a profitable Fixed Income Arbitrage strategy, all the major hedge fund strategies in the EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes finally registered losses after a first quarter of positive but waning performances.
The strong progression of the LGBI, along with a receding dollar, did not make up for the moderate setback of the commodities market and the CTA Global strategy (-0.01%) only managed stability in the end. The shrinking credit spread and increasing default spread outweighted the negative performance of convertible bonds to sustain the growth of the Fixed Income Arbitrage strategy (+0.50%).
The post-2008 influx of institutional money into hedge funds has resulted in a marked increase in the global industry’s operational sophistication and transparency to investors, according to a new report by KPMG and the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association.
The report, entitled: “The Evolution of an Industry”, is based on a survey of and in-depth interviews of 150 hedge fund management firms globally with more than GBP550bn in combined assets under management. It found that hedge fund management firms have increased their operational infrastructure in areas like investor transparency and regulatory compliance as allocations
The Dutch Hedge Fund Index ended April 1.12% lower – more than the DB (-0.24%) and Lyxor Hedge Fund Indices (-0.02%) for the month but still positive for the year (+2.29% Ytd).
April’s performance is a result of the weighting to Long/ Short Equity managers within the Index and more specifically the geographic focus of these managers.
Most managers tend to invest close to home and focus on European companies they know well and have an edge.
Macro economic sentiment however punished European bourses hanging Grexit and whatmore.
US and Asian markets posted much better numbers in April.
Correlations in
Fundsmith chief executive Terry Smith on why austerity v growth is a sterile debate…
I have appeared recently on Newsnight (23 minutes in), ITN News and BBC News talking about the debate over austerity v growth. I also appeared on Robert Peston’s BBC2 programme about the Eurozone crisis – The Great Euro Crash.
These appearances were prompted by the Eurozone crisis coming back into focus, and in particular by a period of a week in which the Dutch government fell; elections in Greece failed to produce a government, and in particular failed to produce a consensus which supported the austerity
Man Group is to acquire London-based hedge fund research and investment specialist Financial Risk Management (FRM) in a deal worth up to USD82.8million.
Once the acquisition is completed, which is expected to be before the end of Q3 2012, FRM will be incorporated into Man’s existing Multi-Manager business leaving the new combined business with USD19 billion assets under management.
The FRM brand will be maintained, but according to a statement released by Man, the company expects to make savings of up USD45 million a year from ‘operational synergies’.
No consideration will be paid up front. The contingent consideration which will
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Seattle-based financial adviser and his firm with defrauding clients by secretly investing their money in two risky start-up companies he co-founded.
The SEC alleges that Mark Spangler, a former chairman of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, funnelled approximately USD47.7 million of client money into these private ventures despite representing that he would invest primarily in publicly traded securities. Spangler served as chairman and CEO of one of the companies, which is now bankrupt. Such risky investments were inconsistent with the investment strategies that Spangler promised his clients and contrary to
Dow Jones Indexes has expanded the Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Index family to include three new size-segment indexes: Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing US Large-Cap 250 Index; Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing US Mid-Cap 250 Index; Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing US Small-Cap 250 Index.
The Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Indexes are quantitative-strategy gauges based on a proprietary quantitative algorithm created by the risk-management-research consulting firm LSP Partners LLC. The new size-segment indexes supplement the Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Equal Sector US Large-Cap 50 Index, which launched in January.
Indexes in the Dow Jones LSP
London-based RMG Wealth Management is apparently planning to launch its inaugural UCITS fund for UK clients before year-end reported FT Adviser this week.
CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) plans to launch trading on the CBOE NASDAQ-100 Volatility Index futures contract beginning on Wednesday, 23 May, pending regulatory approval.
VXN, which measures the volatility of the NASDAQ-100 Index, is calculated through the application of CBOE’s VIX methodology to the prices of options on NDX.
The NASDAQ-100 Index represents the largest non-financial US and international securities listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market, based on market capitalisation. As of May 15, 2012, 63.76 percent of the Index securities were classified as technology.
"Our customers are seeking ways to trade and better hedge the dynamic volatility in
Altegris Advisors has launched the Altegris Equity Long Short Fund (ticker:ELSAX). This fund aims to generate and capture alpha on the long and short side of the equity markets, predominantly US stocks.
Since 1990, long/short equity represented by HFRI Equity Hedge Total Index gained 1,339%, while US stocks represented by S&P 500 Total Return Index gained 469%.
"We believe many long/short funds are managed by long-only managers who’ve only recently started shorting," says Jon Sundt (pictured), President and CEO of Altegris and Co-Portfolio Manager of the Altegris Family of Mutual Funds. "We were methodical in our preparation for launching this
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