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DIGITAL ASSETS
The soaring price of bitcoin is putting the world’s foremost cryptocurrency on a direct collision course with ESG-focused investments, as allocators increasingly want portfolios to be managed responsibly, says Robert Furdak, chief investment officer for ESG at Man Group.
The two major investment trends looming large over the hedge fund and asset management world – bitcoin’s stratospheric surge and investors’ rush towards responsible investing across all mandates – are now set for a “head-on clash”, Furdak said.
Hedge funds are continuing to profit from the ongoing surge in the cryptocurrency sector, as more managers pour money into digital assets’ record
MANAGER INSIGHTS
Altana Wealth, the credit, currencies and special situations-focused hedge fund led by industry veteran and former Trafalgar Asset Managers co-founder Lee Robinson (pictured), is gearing up to launch a new strategy that will capitalise on the fast-growing SPAC sector.
FUND LAUNCHES
The number of new hedge funds being launched has reached its highest level in three years, as managers look to capitalise on the nascent economic recovery, idiosyncratic and volatility-based opportunities, and a shifting macro environment.
New hedge fund launches increased to around 175 in the fourth quarter of 2020, with the number of new funds unveiled exceeding the estimated quarterly liquidations for the second successive quarter, new industry analysis by Hedge Fund Research shows.
The number of Q4 launches was up on the previous quarter’s total of 151, bringing the estimated number of new hedge funds launched in 2020 to
SHORT-SELLING
Cineworld, a long-standing target of hedge fund short sellers, saw its share price plummet on Thursday after the group slumped to an eye-watering USD3 billion pre-tax loss last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The beleaguered global movie theatre chain fell by 10 per cent after publishing its preliminary 2020 annual results, boosting those hedge funds taking a bearish stance against the FTSE 250-listed firm.
Polygon Global Partners, Adelphi Capital, AHL Partners, New Holland Capital, and Whitebox Advisors are all holding short positions in Cineworld, according to regulatory disclosures.
Earlier this year, high profile hedge funds Marshall Wace,
FUND PERFORMANCE
Drury Capital, the long-running US trend-following hedge fund firm led by former grain trader Bernard Drury, has soared into double-digit territory this year, with both its established flagship fund and recently-launched multi-strategy futures fund making gains across commodities and equities markets.
The Diversified Trend Following Program advanced 13 per cent in the first two months of 2021, and gained almost 38 per cent in the 12-month period to the end of February. The flagship systematic managers futures fund, which launched in May 1997, has an annualised return since inception of 9.5 per cent, compared to the S&P 500’s 6.4 per
OUTLOOK
Aberdeen Standard Investments is bullish on event driven merger arbitrage hedge funds amid a surge in deal volumes, while equity long/short and activist managers are also tipped to capitalise on the continued fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
GOLD
Global equities hedge fund Russell Clark Investment Management is taking a bearish stance on “expensive” gold, and urges caution on the price of the safe-haven commodity.
In a recent market commentary, Russell Clark examined the long-term value of the precious metal, and its relationship with the price of food.
Traditionally, investors have flocked to the commodity as a defensive asset during times of turmoil, with gold holding its value over the long term, and being recognised as both a store of money and medium for transactions.
But despite soaring in the early days of the Covid market crash last spring,
GUEST ARTICLE
By Robert Quartly-Janeiro – There is a lot of talk about ESG. It dominates column inches and pitch decks at levels unimaginable only a decade ago. The need for companies to adopt and integrate ESG is imperative if environmental issues – the hardest and most important component – are to be resolved in the coming decades and a mass extinction avoided.
MANAGER INSIGHTS
Founded in 2015 by David Meneret (above left), a former Macquarie senior portfolio manager and structured credit specialist of almost 20 years, New York-based credit hedge fund Mill Hill Capital believes the current market landscape offers fertile ground for its market neutral, relative value investment style.
ANALYSIS
Archegos collapse shows what can happen when leverage is misapplied
ANALYSIS
Archegos collapse shows what can happen when leverage is misapplied