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FUND PERFORMANCE
Investor confidence in hedge funds appears to be on the rise, with allocators pouring in some USD13 billion between July and September, the first quarterly net inflow into the industry in two-and-a-half years.
New data published by Hedge Fund Research shows the industry on the whole drew positive net inflows for the first time since Q1 2018, with third quarter allocations – dominated by macro and relative value strategies – bringing the total amount of industry capital globally to some USD3.31 trillion.
HFR president Kenneth Heinz said the pick-up in inflows was driven both by defensive outperformance by hedge funds through
RESEARCH
The quality of research skills among hedge funds and other investment managers is closely tied to their ability to generate alpha in portfolios, a new deep-dive industry study has found.
Inalytics, a UK-based research outfit that aims to identify and benchmark investment skills for institutional investors, probed the connection between research capability and alpha generation using its database of 370 active equity portfolios and 26 fixed income credit portfolios.
The study split the portfolios into two groups: those with positive and those with negative alpha. It tracked opening buys – the first time a manager adds a new stock to the
INVESTMENT INSIGHTS
Investment managers “have to be able to cope” with prevailing market environments, and not blame central bank policies for fund performance, according to Man Group CEO Luke Ellis, who says investors also now want more from their portfolios than passive index strategies can deliver.
RESULTS
Man Group’s shares rose on Friday morning after the London-listed global hedge fund group’s latest quarterly results showed funds under management swelled 4 per cent in Q3 to USD113.1 billion – driven by what CEO Luke Ellis described as “strong growth” in performance and “robust net inflows” in its alternatives and long-only strategies.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
In his latest occasional blog series, Joel Press (pictured) of Press Management, considers the issue of succession planning in the hedge fund sector and the planning, time and effort needed to accomplish a successful transfer of leadership…
US ELECTION
With less than three weeks left until the US presidential election, London-based hedge funds are now closely scrutinising how certain assets and markets will be shaped by the potential outcome of the 3 November poll.
Savvas Savouri, chief economist and partner at long-running UK hedge fund Toscafund Asset Management, said the US government faces a dramatic change in the event of a Joe Biden win, pointing to a “radical” faction of the Democrats – which includes Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders – likely to form part of his cabinet.
“This is a flank committed to wealth redistribution and corporate regulation,” Savouri
REGULATION
With certain aspects of the EU’s ongoing MiFID II review affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Hedgeweek explores how a fresh overhaul of the framework may further impact hedge fund operations, and why the Covid-19 crisis may provide an easing of the regulatory burden.
FUND PERFORMANCE
Hedge funds have notched up positive returns in recent weeks, positioning around the investment uncertainty surrounding the US presidential election and fresh Covid-19 lockdowns with gains inversely correlated to the sharp stock market declines seen at the end of October.
New data from Hedge Fund Research shows the industry as a whole was up 0.4 per cent last month, which took the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index’s year-to-date performance to 1.2 per cent.
As governments reimposed lockdowns in a bid to contain a renewed increase in coronavirus cases in many countries, HFR president Kenneth Heinz described October’s performance as “impressive”.
FUND PERFORMANCE
Merger arbitrage and event driven hedge fund strategies can capitalise on the recent pick-up in M&A activity globally, and help cushion investors’ portfolios amid potential risk aversion as a result of the US election, Brexit and a fresh Covid-19 surge in Q4, industry strategists say.
OUTLOOK
“Hedge funds are back”: Veteran investor Dixon Boardman sees “compelling opportunities” across three key strategy areas
OUTLOOK
“Hedge funds are back”: Veteran investor Dixon Boardman sees “compelling opportunities” across three key strategy areas