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RESEARCH
The rate of new hedge fund launches grew between April and June following the coronavirus-fuelled first quarter slump, as hedge fund performance recovered – but the number of new roll-outs over the past 12 months remains “historically low”, Hedge Fund Research says.
New hedge fund launches totalled an estimated 129 in the second quarter. That number was a sharp increase on Q1 which proved the highest quarterly launch total since 153 funds were rolled out in Q2 2019, according to HFR’s latest Market Microstructure Report.
But the number of estimated fund launches during the preceding four quarters reached just 404
NEWS
The Managed Funds Association, the global alternative investment industry trade group, has elected and appointed eight new members to its board of directors.
The new members are Eric Epstein, president, managing member, Davidson Kempner Capital Management; Gil Raviv, global general counsel, Millennium Management; David Zirin, chief operating officer at Pentwater Capital Management; and Peter Cherecwich, executive vice president, Northern Trust – along with Natalie Horton, global head of capital markets financing and Americas head, global markets financing at UBS; Steve Meyer, executive vice president, head of global wealth management services at SEI; Cedric Pauwels, North American head of equities and
EMERGING MARKET DEBT
The rally in emerging markets has “eroded the potential for alpha generation” in EM debt markets, but this weaker investment environment is only temporary, with hedge fund managers keeping their powder dry to capitalise on opportunities at a later stage.
REGULATION
Man AHL, the pioneering quantitative investment unit of London-listed global hedge fund giant Man Group, has been given the green light for a qualified foreign institutional investor license in China.
The QFII license will give Man AHL’s investment strategies based outside of China greater access to the country’s domestic capital markets, complementing other existing access routes such as Stock Connect and China Interbank Bond Market access.
The approval – which is the latest development in Man’s long-running focus on China – will provide clients and strategies with “valuable additional diversification and alpha-generation opportunities,” said Man AHL co-CEO Antoine Forterre.
Man
WHITE PAPER
The prospect of remote working becoming the “new normal” amid the likelihood of renewed Covid-19 lockdowns is driving investment managers of all sizes and strategies to re-evaluate their operational infrastructure and business practices in light of this year’s unprecedented events, according to SEI Investment Manager Services.
SHORT-SELLING
Cineworld, the beleaguered London-listed global cinema group long targeted by hedge fund short sellers, has been dealt a fresh blow as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, reporting a USD1.6 billion first-half loss with revenues plummeting after theatres were forced to close.
MANAGER INSIGHTS
“Our motto is: ‘no beliefs, only processes’,” says Julien Messias, portfolio manager and co-founder of French systematic hedge fund Quantology Capital Management. “We are agnostic as to where the market will go – it is impossible to forecast. So what we trust are our processes.”
FUND PERFORMANCE
Investors continued to add more money to hedge funds last month – after pouring more than USD9 billion into the industry in July – as the sector recovers from a bruising four-month run of withdrawals and allocators drift back to the sector, new industry data shows.
Altogether, hedge funds attracted some USD7.36 billion of positive inflows in August, according to eVestment, whose latest flows report highlighted an “impressive” breadth of allocations despite a reduced volume of asset movement compared to recent months.
But it also warned of a “rocky” outlook, with investor sentiment hinging on how successfully hedge fund strategies of all
MANAGER INSIGHTS
Pierre-Henri Flamand, Man GLG’s CIO emeritus and hedge fund industry veteran, says the huge economic stimulus from governments to combat the coronavirus crisis is fuelling the threat of inflation, and is warning investors to “be vigilant rather than to relax”.
The unprecedented cash injections from central banks and governments this year to support economies suggest a “clear threat that we may be entering an inflationary decade”, said Flamand, a former star manager at Goldman Sachs and now senior investment adviser at UK hedge fund giant Man.
He believes the inflation threat far outweighs the challenges posed by the upcoming US
US ELECTION
Multi-strategy hedge fund Algebris’ macro chief eyes Biden victory in US election battle
US ELECTION
Multi-strategy hedge fund Algebris’ macro chief eyes Biden victory in US election battle