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OIL
A victory for Joe Biden in next month’s US presidential election may “counter-intuitively” help boost global oil markets, according to London-based energy-focused hedge fund Westbeck Capital.
NEWS
London-based global equity hedge fund Russell Clark Investment Management is eyeing a rise in global agricultural crop prices amid potential wider global food inflation, as a result of the disruptive impact of swine flu on China’s pig population.
China – the world’s foremost pig producer and consumer – has seen the cost of pork double after the African Swine Flu virus wiped almost two-thirds of the country’s pigs between 2018 and 2020, with prices there now six times those of the US.
In a note this week, Clark suggested that the global pork market is set to stay “very tight for a prolonged
LAUNCHES
Jackson Hole Capital Partners, the Tulsa-based asset manager, is launching a new alternatives investment platform to be run by two former investment heads from Permal and EnTrust – Robert Kaplan and Christopher Keenan – who have joined the firm as managing partners.
The new platform, Jackson Hole Investment Partners, is focused on proprietary sourced direct and co-investments in equity and debt markets – two areas where the managers see attractive opportunities for a differentiated return stream in high-conviction ideas.
Kaplan was previously senior managing director and member of the EnTrustPermal Global Investment Committee – having previously served as chief investment officer at Permal
US ELECTION
Capstone Investment Advisors, the global volatility and derivatives-focused hedge fund, believes the lack of volatility both in the US election polls and president Donald Trump’s personal approval ratings suggests Democrat challenger Joe Biden is on course to win the 3 November election.
The firm, which manages USD7.9 billion in assets across a broad range of volatility-focused, derivatives-based strategies, says Trump’s approval rating has been the least volatile of the last 14 US presidents, while polling data suggests 2020’s race is much less volatile than the 2016 battle.
Jason Goldberg, senior portfolio manager at Capstone, says a lack of movement in
INNOVATION
In 2016, SEI issued a paper on what it saw as five major innovations that were causing disruptions both within and outside of their respective industries. The company has revisited those themes, namely: Watsonisation, Googlisation, Amazonisation, Uberisation and Twitterisation, to provide an up-to-date picture of the innovations occurring in our industry today. Over the next few months SEI will share its findings and recent developments for each theme. Next up: Twitterisation…
DEDICATED MANAGED ACCOUNTS
By Joshua D Kestler, Global Head of HedgeMark, BNY Mellon – In the 12 years since the 2008 financial crisis, many large institutional investors have adopted Dedicated Managed Account (DMA) structures in order to address the challenges in commingled hedge funds that were exposed during the crisis. These investors were well-prepared to more effectively manage their portfolios through the market volatility which has resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic while eliminating many of the structural risks that can be exacerbated during a crisis scenario.
SHORT-SELLING
Hedge fund short-sellers have taken a five-month drubbing on bets against the Dow Jones, as the sustained summer rally torpedoed their negative wagers to the tune of USD16 billion – but September’s sell-off has stemmed losses, leading to hopes of an upturn in fortunes.
The robust performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the aftermath of March’s Covid crash brought month-on-month hits to short positions, new analysis from London-based equity research firm Ortex Analytics shows.
The index – which tracks the stock market performance of the 30 largest listed US companies – gathered pace from April onwards, which left
SPONSORED CONTENT
As hedge funds take stock of the events of last year – the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and the collapse of the oil market to name a few – 2021 will be a year of opportunity for hedge funds. Facilitating participation in the world’s largest financial market is more important than ever before, writes Mario Sanchez (pictured), Managing Director and Global Head of Sales at FXCM Pro.
APPOINTMENTS
Global multi-asset manager Fulcrum Asset Management has hired Filippo Cartiglia, former chief international economist at Arrowgrass Capital Partners, as a senior member of its investment team.
MULTI-STRATEGY INVESTING
Some of the industry’s leading multi-strategy hedge fund managers have had a good year so far, with their ability to trade myriad asset classes across the liquidity curve enabling their portfolio managers to harvest numerous sources of alpha.
