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By Don A Steinbrugge, Agecroft Partners – The hedge fund industry is dynamic, comprising of numerous strategies that attract varying degrees of interest over time.
FUND PERFORMANCE
Stockholm-based Brummer & Partners’ flagship multi-strategy fund has dipped into negative territory in recent weeks according to mid-month estimates for March, with long/short equity losses offsetting gains made by other strategies.
The Brummer Multi-Strategy (BMS) vehicle’s SEK class fell 1.1 per cent during the first two weeks of March, reversing February’s 3.2 per cent advance to leave its year-to-date return at 1.2 per cent.
At the same time, the twice-levered BMS 2xL version of the fund, which climbed 6.4 per cent last month, has fallen 2.2 per cent so far this month, Brummer said on Wednesday. It remains up 2.2
NEWS
Industrial metals and bulk materials stand to gain from the nascent post-Covid economic recovery according to metals and mining-focused hedge fund Delbrook Capital, while precious metals trades – an investor favourite during market uncertainty – could be starting to run out of steam.
SHORT-SELLING
Hedge funds’ bearish bets against Cineworld suffered a dent this week as shares in the beleaguered London-listed global cinema chain – a long-standing target of short sellers – surged more than 9 per cent.
NEWS
Lombard Odier Investment Managers has hired ex-Sandell Asset Management event driven specialist Raj Davé to run a new fund within its hedge fund and alternative investment unit, 1798 Alternatives, focusing on special situations and event driven opportunities.
In his new role Davé, who reports to Christophe Khaw, CIO of LIOM’s 1798 Alternatives, will trade opportunities across the capital structure, and aim to generate returns with low correlation to traditional equity and fixed income markets.
New York-based Davé has more than 20 years’ experience trading high yield, distressed and event driven markets. He previously managed the distressed credit fund, Torgos Credit
FUND LAUNCHES
Jeremy Touboul, a former fund manager at H2O Asset Management, and Raphaël Remond, former CEO of State Street France, have launched LIOR Global Partners, a new sustainability-focused discretionary global macro hedge fund firm.
LIOR Global Partners will use a top-down research process to identify a mix of directional, relative value and thematic investment opportunities across a mix of credit, equities, sovereign bonds and currencies, investing both long and short to generate absolute returns regardless of market environment.
The portfolio-building process brings together macroeconomic research, valuation metrics, technical indicators and quantitative tools, fusing quantitative models with human analysis.
Jeremy Touboul, co-founder
FUND PERFORMANCE
Rhenman & Partners Asset Management’s flagship healthcare-focused hedge fund overcame February’s market volatility to finish the month in positive territory, as the strategy triumphed in the Best Global Equity Fund category at this year’s Hedgeweek European Awards.
The Rhenman Healthcare Equity Long/Short fund – which trades a range of small, medium and large pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology and services stocks – added 0.57 per cent to its main euro-denominated IC1 share class during February. That brought its returns since the start of the year to 1.89 per cent. The strategy’s SEK class meanwhile rose 1.07 per cent last month, and
SPACS
Hedge funds may be better placed to withstand a future performance squeeze in SPACs than other investors, as the recent sell-off in the asset class shed light on vehicle structures and investor-sponsor alignment.
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, have been among the brightest investment prospects over the past year, with hedge funds in particular helping to fuel the boom.
But as the sector sharply corrected towards the end of February, with retail investors feeling the pinch, hedge funds appeared to have registered a more modest hit from such ‘blank-check’ investments, Lyxor Asset Management strategists said this week.
SPACs raise
EMERGING MARKETS
The widening valuation gap between emerging markets fixed income and its developed markets counterpart is set to throw up “interesting opportunities” for EM-focused investors and hedge funds once the recent US treasury yield spike stabilises, according to BlueBay Asset Management.
As US 10-year treasury yields spiralled this week – topping 1.6 per cent at one point – volatility across equity markets kept a lid on returns, while emerging markets fixed income, local markets, and sovereign and corporate credit were also all down.
The move in higher real rates has proved a headwind for EM fixed income – but has led
AWARDS
The team at Hedgeweek is delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Hedgeweek European Awards, compiled in conjunction with Bloomberg.
