Martin Bendersky, Co-Managing Director Marble Bar Asset Management, explains how macro-driven markets are redefining alpha generation, why multi-manager platforms remain relevant, and the qualities Marble Bar looks for when selecting investment teams.
Martin Bendersky, Co-Managing Director Marble Bar Asset Management has extensive experience of identifying market regimes and when potential downturns are around the corner. He categorises this current moment as highly unique “we are in a highly macro and thematic driven market, the difference between companies and sectors are very small as the same catalysts that drag markets up or down.”
Against this backdrop, the idea of a fund generating alpha has changed. For managers operating under the Marble Bar umbrella, alpha is not coming from the individual stock level, but broader more themes, which once identified and attached too, can generate signficant returns. “Ai is a perfect example, in this environment, its increasingly important to determined where you want to be positioned both long and short, not on the individual prospects of selected companies.”
For Marble bar PM’s, demonstrating they can still generate consistent returns is crucial, as questions surrounding multi manager platforms have persisted over the past several months. However, Bendersky is bullish regarding their prospects “despite the dramatic increase in these investment platforms over the past decade, I believe they still have in an important role to play with investor portfolios.” The gap between the biggest and medium sized platforms has only got bigger, with Benderksy anticipating a “consolidation, adjustment and restructuring” within the industry because of the costs of competition.
This means for Marble Bar having the right investment teams to partner with is paramount to maintaining the firm’s edge. Bendersky focuses on three main areas when identifying the right people “People, strategy and edge and portfolio construction.” When it comes to strategy and edge, it is a two-fold attribute. Managers need to demonstrate they have structural edge, “by targeting inefficiencies in the market they can identify and isolate consistently” and analytical edge, where “research capabilities allow them to identify opportunities others are unable to see.”
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