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DIGITAL ASSETS
As bitcoin surged towards a two-month high on Monday (26 July), digital assets-focused investment manager Wave Financial is bullish on the cryptocurrency’s future prospects amid the ongoing institutionalisation of the sector.
MANAGER INSIGHTS
BlueBay Asset Management’s Global Credit Alpha Long/Short strategy has generated a commendable track record since launching almost a decade ago, taking an active catalyst-driven approach to trading corporate and sovereign credit markets.
With a broad investment mandate, and no restrictions on geographies, sectors or ratings universe, the liquid credit long/short strategy has never suffered a single down year since its November 2011 inception.
What binds the portfolio together, says Senior Portfolio Manager Geraud Charpin, is the liquidity profile of its investments.
“It’s the ability to get in and out of a position within a couple of trades – generally within
FUND PERFORMANCE
Growing numbers of investors are turning to hedge funds to protect their portfolios in the face of inflationary fears, with total industry capital swelling to almost USD4 trillion and more allocators set to tilt towards alternative assets, new research shows.
FUND PERFORMANCE
Australian investors are showing an increased interest in hedge funds after the sector demonstrated its robustness during the pandemic, and are now seeing how they could provide opportunities for protection against the spectre of inflation.
This is the view of Scott Pappas, Head of Alternatives and Derivative Solutions at Frontier Advisors, an Australian investment consultancy that works with superannuation funds, endowments and liability-driven investment portfolios.
According to Pappas, when equity markets were falling over consecutive days at the start of the pandemic, hedge funds typically held up well.
“Some people criticised the fact that hedge funds didn’t mirror the recovery of equity markets when they bounced back as long and as hard as they did, but investors
SPECIAL REPORT
This Hedgeweek special report, produced in conjunction with Enfusion, examines why asset managers are making the switch to cloud-based technology solutions – and what the key considerations are they need to think about before, during and after they move to the cloud.
FUND LAUNCHES
Systematic hedge fund and CTA pioneer Aspect Capital has unveiled a new daily-liquid UCITS-compliant version of its Aspect Core Diversified Programme, a medium-term quantitative trend-following strategy, to capitalise on growing demand for uncorrelated returns amid rising market uncertainty.
Originally launched in 2014, the computer-driven strategy – which today has some USD1.5 billion in assets – looks to generate alpha by zeroing in on a range of medium-term trend opportunities across more than 100 liquid financial and commodity markets.
The new UCITS version rolls out with more than USD40 million of external capital, and has a target volatility of 12 per
FUND LAUNCHES
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, has unveiled a new multi-asset strategy which will trade assets that align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, in a move aimed at further tapping into investor appetite for sustainable investing.
The Lyxor/Bridgewater All Weather Sustainability Fund – which is managed by Lyxor Asset Management and sub-advised by Bridgewater – is built around Bridgewater’s pioneering systematic research process, and will use the hedge fund giant’s “All Weather” asset allocation framework to engineer its portfolio.
Specifically, the UCITS compliant strategy will look to identify and trade a range of public market assets, including equities,
COMMENT
As global economies prepare to unlock, potentially driving up inflation and interest rates, hedge funds’ low sensitivity to rate moves can help bolster investors’ portfolio performance, says K2 Advisors, the hedge fund investing unit of Franklin Templeton.
SHORT-SELLING
Hedge funds betting against UK blue chip stocks saw their negative wagers pay off on Monday as investor fears over rising coronavirus cases sent the FTSE 100 tumbling some 2.3 per cent.
Hopes that the easing of most Covid-19 restrictions in England this week – with 19 July having been dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ – would help accelerate the UK’s nascent economic recovery were soured as travel, manufacturing and retail names were all dented.
Travel and tourism-related stocks were among the hardest hit amid continued uncertainty surrounding the UK’s traffic-light quarantine system for travellers, which threatens summer holidays for many. EasyJet
PRIVATE DEBT
Consultants see continued drive towards ‘alternative’ private debt, including regulatory capital and direct lending strategies
PRIVATE DEBT
Consultants see continued drive towards ‘alternative’ private debt, including regulatory capital and direct lending strategies