The Hedgeweek Awards for excellence among hedge fund managers and service providers have recognised the increased focus on transparency, consistency and depth of expertise in the new investment climate.

By Simon Gray - The second edition of the Hedgeweek Awards for excellence among hedge fund managers and service providers comes at a time when the outlook is starting to look brighter for the hedge fund industry following the difficulties of the past few years. Performance in 2010 was in most cases unspectacular but solid, delivering on the industry’s promise to provide consistent returns and protect capital whatever the state of traditional asset markets, and it appears that this pattern is continuing into the early months of 2011.

Agecroft Partners specialises in consulting and third-party marketing for hedge funds. Its objective is to raise assets globally for institutional quality hedge fund managers by utilising a consultative approach within the institutional investor community.

Alceda Fund Management is an independent service provider 100 per cent owned by Aquila Group based in Hamburg, Germany. Launched in 2007, Luxembourg-based Alceda has been one of the fastest growing structuring specialists in Europe, with current assets under administration of over USD4.5bn. It is one of Europe’s leading independent structuring specialists dedicated to providing institutional investors, fund managers, banks and family offices with tailored investment solutions.

Alcentra focuses its investment strategies on sub-investment grade debt capital markets of Europe and North America.

London-based hedge fund advisor Audley Capital Advisors was established in 2005 by activist investor Julian Treger and private equity investor Michael Treichl. Launched that year, the Audley European Opportunities Fund generates alpha by making opportunistic investments in distressed situations, creating value through financial and/or operational restructurings.

London-based Capital Support was established in 2002 and is still privately owned. With offices located across the capital in Docklands, the City and the West End, the firm currently employs approximately 80 people and considers itself a vertical specialist in financial services technology. It is one of the UK’s leading IT solutions providers to the financial and professional services industry.

By Simon Gray - After more than 18 months of often-heated debate and a succession of drafts, frequently in contradiction with each other, in a process that sought to reconcile strongly-held opposing positions, European Union economic affairs and finance ministers and then the European Parliament finally agreed last November on a (nearly) final version of the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers. The directive is now set to take effect around mid-2013 after being incorporated into the legislation of EU member states.

Custom House was established in Ireland in 1989 to provide a broad range of fund services to its clients. The group merged into Equity Trust on September 1, 2008, in effect becoming a joint venture between Equity Trust and the Custom House management. At that time, the holding company Custom House Global Fund Services was established in Malta. The company now has more than 260 employees and subsidiary offices in Chicago, Dublin, Guernsey, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Dalton Strategic Partnership, established in 2002 by a group of ex-Mercury Asset Management colleagues, is a global investment management firm that manages assets on behalf of institutions, family offices, charities, foundations, private clients and retail investors. This is achieved through the use of specialist equity funds (all named Melchior), global asset allocation portfolios and a private client business.

Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong private client franchise. A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With more than 100,000 employees in 74 countries, Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world. The bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions, creating lasting value for its clients, shareholders, people and the communities in which it operates.

Netherlands-based seeding platform IMQubator has a simple mission: to deliver high absolute returns to its investors by investing in new, up-and-coming investment managers. The multi-manager fund uses a structure comparable to a joint/shared account. IMQ Investment Management is investment manager, selecting and managing each new addition to IMQubator and actively monitoring them on a weekly basis.

The London-headquartered IMS Group is a leading provider of consulting and integrated business support to the asset management and securities industry. The group’s core service offering is regulatory compliance consulting to UK-regulated financial services firms.

Dr Jon Thorn, a former London-based business journalist who later worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert, is today one of the industry’s longest-serving India-only managers. With more than 16 years’ investing experience, he is an acknowledged expert on India’s economy and capital markets. Since launching the flagship India Capital Fund (initially known as the Indian Smaller Companies Fund) in 1994, Thorn’s India Capital Management has established a solid investment track record in Indian public equities.

JP Fund Administration is a Cayman Islands-based fund administrator offering services to asset managers in all styles of alternative investment management. The choice to establish in the Cayman Islands was based on its well-established legal and regulatory framework, which has made it the leading fund jurisdiction for the overwhelming majority of offshore alternative investment fund managers.

Linedata is a global solutions provider serving the investment management and credit community. Headquartered in France, with offices in Europe, North America and Asia, Linedata was established in September 1998. More than 700 clients operating out of 50 countries now count Linedata as a service provider, from global banks and major financial institutions to small asset managers and start-up hedge funds.

The Lyxor Managed Account Platform currently supports more than 100 managed accounts totalling more than USD10bn in assets under management and is today the world’s largest such platform. It offers an unrivalled range of alternative strategies that replicate some of the best-performing hedge funds in the industry.

Ogier has one of the industry’s leading reputations when it comes to advising global international financial institutions, having been at the vanguard of offshore financial market development for more than 50 years. Its legal services department provides legal advice on all aspects of BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey law. With some 52 partners and 187 lawyers, Ogier is able to handle cases of any size and complexity and prides itself on its ability to offer expert, efficient and cost-effective legal advice.

London-based PR firm Peregrine Communications is currently Europe’s largest hedge fund PR agency based on the number of clients and their combined assets under management. Established in 2003 by Anthony Payne, Peregrine delivers communication results to companies on a local or global platform, and has built up an award-winning reputation based on proven strategies and excellent client service.

Prime Fund Solutions has been a pioneer of fund servicing and financing to the alternative asset management industry since it was first established in 1969. The firm prides itself on its client-focused operating model and counts its industry-leading infrastructure and highly experienced staff as key differentiators in a competitive market. In Europe, the firm has offices in London, Geneva, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Dublin, Galway and the Isle of Man.

By Simon Gray - Should one tempt fate? In May 2008, Deutsche Bank’s sixth annual Alternative Investment Survey forecast that despite the unfolding meltdown of the US sub-prime mortgage market and the bearish global economic outlook, cautious investors were poised to eliminate their cash holdings and pump more than USD200bn in fresh allocations into the industry over the coming months.

PVE Capital is a European-based hedge fund manager and adviser established in June 2009 by Gennaro Pucci, Joe Vittoria and Christian Evans. Launched in October 2009, the Matrix PVE Global Credit Fund uses a macro approach to trading credit markets.

Sabre Fund Management is one of London’s best-known hedge fund managers, having first risen to prominence as a CTA in 1982. Its core business is quantitative strategies, becoming the first European hedge fund to use style investing as a means for generating alpha.

Sidley Austin has a premier global practice in advising investment funds and advisers. Sidley’s lawyers serve virtually every type of investment fund and investment manager as well as other market participants. More than 120 corporate, securities and derivatives lawyers serve investment fund, investment management and derivatives work worldwide.

Simmons & Simmons’ hedge fund practice has been advising hedge fund sponsors and managers since the early 1990s when the alternatives industry started to flourish across Europe.

Venus Capital was established in Boston in 1994 and regards itself as North America’s first India-focused hedge fund. The firm was registered with the SEC in 2000 and manages the assets of a variety of private clients, principally family offices, funds of funds, pension funds and endowments.