A very warm welcome to our 2020 US Hedgeweek awards report. I’d like to extend my congratulations to all of the award winners this year. It’s a clear recognition of the outstanding work the managers contained herein, have done over the last 12 months, in an industry where saying one is ‘best-in-class’ cannot be underestimated. 

LOIM, 1798 Alternatives | 1798 Fundamental Strategies Fund: Best Multi-Manager Hedge Fund (Multi-Strategy) – Lombard Odier Investment Managers established its own alternatives business, 1798 Alternatives, in 2007 and is headed up by Jean-Pascal Porcherot (pictured). Since inception, its AUM has grown to USD4.9 billion within liquid alternatives and hedge funds. More specifically, USD0.9 billion is held in a multi-strategy product that invests in a range of equity, relative value, tail risk, and event driven strategies across a number of investment styles. 

Arena Investors: Best Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund – Arena Investors currently manages USD1.7 billion in assets and since its inception in 2015 the firm has deployed USD2.4 billion across 203 transactions. Daniel Zwirn is Arena’s CEO and CIO and oversees the investment team. Arena invests across six verticals, which include: corporate private credit, real estate private credit, commercial and industrial assets, structured finance, consumer assets, and corporate securities. 

Crestline Summit: Best Equity Market-Neutral & Quant Hedge Fund – Crestline Summit Equity Alpha was named Best Market Neutral Hedge Fund at the Hedgeweek US Awards 2020. Winners were recognised at a virtual ceremony on 29 October.

Elementum Advisors: Best Insurance-Linked Securities Hedge Fund – Elementum Advisors, LLC is an independent investment manager specialising in collateralised natural event reinsurance investments. Headquartered in Chicago, Elementum was launched in December 2009 by Founding Partners and Senior Portfolio Managers, John DeCaro and Tony Rettino, and Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Michael France. Elementum’s firm-wide AUM is USD4.2 billion (as of 30 June 2020). 

Torgos Credit Opportunities: Best Distressed Debt Hedge Fund – Torgos Credit Opportunities is a multi-pronged credit strategy seeking to invest across debt capital structures of corporate issuers primarily in North America and Europe. 

Aequim Alternative Investments: Best Credit Long/Short Hedge Fund – Aequim is a relative value credit manager focused on capital structure arbitrage established by Portfolio Manager and CIO Franklin Parlamis in 2018. The Aequim Arbitrage Master Fund is essentially a continuation of the Pine River Convertibles Fund Parlamis managed during his tenure at Pine River from August 2009 to January 2017.

Massar Capital Management: Best Macro Hedge Fund – New York-based Massar Capital Management, LP was founded by Marwan Younes in 2015. Prior to founding the firm, Younes served as a portfolio manager at both Jamison Capital Partners and Graham Capital Management, where he traded discretionary macro and commodity strategies. The Massar Macro Commodity Strategy (“Massar”) was launched on 1st February 2015 and currently manages USD 433 million as of November 2020. 

Optima Asset Management: Best Multi-Manager Hedge Fund (Equity Strategies) – Dixon Boardman founded New York-based Optima Fund Management* in 1988. Since inception, Optima has been at the vanguard of hedge fund investing, navigating across diverse market environments while providing its clients access to differentiated opportunities. In Optima’s June edition of its investor newsletter, Boardman pointed out that the whipsaw action of the markets in 2020 has been a challenge not just for hedge funds but for all asset managers.