From Jason Hopper and Dan Heitlinger of A.M.Best Our November 2016 report, “Hedge Fund Performance Has Insurers Reducing Exposure,” noted rising investor concerns surrounding the performance of hedge funds and the insurance industry’s exposure to this asset class from 2013-2015. Based on 2016 data from year-end NAIC statutory financial statements, the insurance industry has continued pulling back its investment […] Read more »
Emerging Market Hedge Fund Demand – The Six Month Rule in Action
By Simon Kerr, Publisher of Hedge Fund Insight The “2017 Credit Suisse Global Survey of Hedge Fund Investor Appetite and Activity” contains the latest example of the six-month rule in action. Regular readers will know the rule and it’s workings (given below). If you haven’t heard of the rule and you have to do some marketing […] Read more »
Hedge Fund Performance Has Insurers Reducing Exposure Says AM Best
By Jason Hopper and Ken Johnson of A.M. Best With interest rates remaining persistently low, NAIC Schedule BA assets, which include alternative investment securities, have generally provided insurers with the potential for higher risk-adjusted returns to help mitigate the decline in higher portfolio book yields. Without a meaningful increase in interest rates, insurers have limited choices for investing new dollars from […] Read more »
Graphic of the Day – North American Hedge Fund Industry Infographic
From Eurekahedge Related articles: America’s Richest Hedge Fund Managers (Sept 2015) New Hedge Funds Cannot Achieve Even 1.5/15% Fees In U.S. (Apr 2015) Read more »
A.M. Best Comments on Insurers’ Hedge Fund Activity: Road Ahead Looks Rocky
By Ken Johnson, CFA, CAIA, FRM, Vice President, A.M. Best. Headlines reflecting the recent underperformance from the hedge fund industry have caused insurers to rethink their current investment allocations, and whether or not to add allocations to this non-traditional asset class going forward. However, the ongoing low interest rate environment and more recent equity volatility have […] Read more »
Top 10 Trends in Insurance for 2016
From Aite Group Though the U.S. insurance industry is entering 2016 well capitalized and profitable, too much capital capacity does not bode well for pricing as new capital flows in, seeking opportunities and driving pricing competition. Against this backdrop, insurers will be juggling priorities: modernizing their core systems, maintaining profitability within existing portfolios, accelerating […] Read more »
…and Asian Hedge Funds Were Doing So Well
By Simon Kerr, Publisher of Hedge Fund Insight Though it may seem a thought from a long time ago, this year had been stacking up as a relatively good one for Asian hedge funds. This was true as recently as just over a month ago. Comparisons for performance in the YTD to the end […] Read more »
CTA Capital Flows Positive For Six Months Straight
From Eurekahedge Hedge fund assets under management have increased by US$93 billion in the first six months of 2015, with roughly US$52 billion coming from performance driven gains and US$41 billion from new investor allocations. Despite losses of 1.13% in June, European mandates continue to see resurgence in investor allocations. European hedge funds […] Read more »
Asian Hedge Funds Attract Capital in 2015 That Pays Off Quickly
By Hedge Fund Insight staff It has been a long road back, but Asian hedge funds have at last regained their peak assets – last seen pre-Credit Crunch in 2008. Total assets in Asian hedge funds (excluding Japan) were at $159.8bn at the end of May 2015. The asset growth since the start of […] Read more »
Fed Rate Rise To Be Catalyst For Last Phase of EM Underperformance
By Jawad Mian, Managing Editor Stray Reflections The inefficiencies that are at the heart of macro investing are permanent, as they relate to the inherent uncertainty of the future. The vast majority of the data required is publicly available. The differentiating factor is the ability to analyze and thematically organize the information into coherent […] Read more »