Size Effect On Performance Still Applies To Hedge Funds in 2017

From Eurekahedge The graphic below shows how hedge fund returns have varied across fund sizes. For June 2017 year-to-date, medium sized hedge funds (US$100m – US$500m) posted the best returns with 3.53% gains, while small and large hedge funds were up 3.40% and 2.64% respectively. Over the past year, small sized hedge funds posted the best […] Read more »

Smaller Insurers Represent Sales Opportunity For Hedge Funds

By Gary Shub and Team at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)     The quest to diversify assets as insurers hunt for higher returns in a low-interest-rate environment suggests that there might be a significant opportunity for asset managers—both independent and insurance owned—to curate and offer alternative investment products for small insurance companies in the […] Read more »

Some Dangerous Signals Appear in Financial Markets

By Stewart Richardson, Chief Investment Officer of RMG Wealth Management   We held our quarterly investment meeting last week (please let us know if you would like to receive a copy of the chart pack), and as you would expect, in both preparing for the meeting and in discussion during the meeting, we thrashed out […] Read more »

A Case for Liquid Alternatives from K2 Advisors

By David Saunders, Founding Managing Director, K2 Advisors (part of Franklin Templeton Solutions)   Some investors consider hedge funds mysterious, aggressively managed investments that may be too risky for the typical portfolio. But skeptics may be surprised to learn that the majority of hedge fund managers focus on providing capital appreciation with lower volatility than the broad […] Read more »

A.M. Best on Insurance Industry Hedge Fund Exposures

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By Jason Hopper and Ken Johnson of A.M.Best*   Introduction In A. M. Best’s recently published briefing, “Industry Interest in Non-Traditional Assets Continues”, we discussed the overall increased interest in non-traditional assets which are found on Schedule BA of the U.S. statutory filings. As allocations to Schedule BA assets (BA assets) have been increasing for […] Read more »

Fed Rate Rise To Be Catalyst For Last Phase of EM Underperformance

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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 »

SEC Puts Managed Accounts On Its Agenda

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By The Regulatory Fundamentals Group   Giving an important speech on Thursday, SEC Chair White outlined a potential major overhaul of the way the SEC intends to regulate risks at investment advisers. She said the program addresses the SEC’s “historic” mission as well as systemic risk. Noting close cooperation between the SEC and the FSOC, […] Read more »

Outlook: Equities Can Continue to Climb the Wall of Worry in 2015

By Paul Sedgwick, Chief Investment Officer of Frank Investments   2015 Predictions for Investors Hunting Returns – Global equities not cheap but should continue to benefit from supportive backdrop – Low commodity prices should provide boost to global economy – Sentiment suggests equities can continue to climb the wall of worry in 2015   Looking […] Read more »

Side-Pocketed Hedge Fund Assets Attract New Investors

From Lars Lindqvist, founder Cattegatt Secondaries   Cattegatt Secondaries, the London based specialist broker for private equity and illiquid hedge funds interests, reports that over the last nine months, the pricing of hedge fund side pockets continued to improve relative to previous trading periods. This can be attributed to an improved economic landscape which has […] Read more »