By Donald A. Steinbrugge, CFA – Founder and CEO, Agecroft Partners The hedge fund industry is dynamic, comprising of numerous strategies that attract varying degrees of interest over time. Demand for each strategy is impacted by many variables including capital market valuations, expectations of economic growth, inflation, market liquidity, and risk appetite, among others. Industry […] Read more »
Active Credit Managers – Long/Short Credit Funds have Leptokurtic Return Distribution
From the paper by Diogo Palhares & Scott Richardson: “Looking Under the Hood of Active Credit Managers” (Financial Analysts Journal, 2020) Credit investors beware: actively managed credit hedge funds may provide more beta than expected and mutual funds too little. This paper investigates just how much traditional risk premia is responsible for active credit manager fund returns. […] Read more »
Equity And Credit Strategies Did Better In July Says Man FRM
From Keith Haydon and Adam Singleton of Man FRM, part of Man Group Markets return to an uneasy calm in July with rising equity markets and falling volatility. Commentators continue to watch the shape of the US yield curve for clues. July continued the difficult year for hedge fund performance, with mixed performance across strategies […] Read more »
GAM Hedge Fund Outlook 2018 – Prefer CB Arb to L/S Credit
By Kier Boley, Chairperson of the GAM AIS Investment Committee Alternative industry trends As we begin 2018, global asset prices have continued their inexorable grind higher. There is increasing unease from investors on the length and extent of the current rally, whilst central banks are increasingly on a rate tightening trajectory. As a result, […] Read more »
Lyxor To Stick With Overweight in Merger Arbitrage
From Lyxor Asset Management March has been a positive month for risk assets. As soon as mid-February, the Fed started to prepare markets for a softer stance than expected by market participants. Mid-March, it delivered at the FOMC meeting with a downward revision of growth and inflation forecasts for 2016, consolidating the rally in […] Read more »
Lyxor Favours Relative Value & Macro For 2016
By Jean-Marc Stenger, CIO for Alternative Investments, Lyxor Asset Management Macro Themes: After navigating between Scylla and Charybdis in 2015 amid growth and deflation scares, 2016 should provide some limited relief. The sturdy, yet aging, expansion in the US should warrant the inception of monetary policy normalization this December. However, all the concerns – […] Read more »
Event Driven Leads Hedge Funds Down in September Notes FRM
From Financial Risk Management Limited (FRM), part of Man Group The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell -2.54% to 29 September, pushing the index further into negative territory at -3.52% for the year-to-date 2015. After a fall of -0.13% recorded in the first half of the month (16 September), hedge funds’ negative performance accelerated […] Read more »
Equity Hedge Yet to De-Gross Notes Man Group’s FRM
From FRM Investment Management Market Background China’s financial troubles and the Fed’s zeroing in on lift off for the next interest rate cycle have combined, as we thought they might, to place deflation at the forefront of investor concerns. Moreover, it is clear that the problems emanating from China, other emerging markets and many […] Read more »
Nearly All HF Strategies Down in June
By Financial Risk Management (FRM is part of Man Group) MARKETS In the US, we remain cautious of equity valuations. Earnings growth is weakening and some data shows it becoming negative. Data also shows institutions have been net sellers of stock for the past four quarters and only non-financials have been net buyers over […] Read more »
K2’s 2015 Outlook – Bias To Lower-Beta Sector Specialists In Equity Hedge
David C. Saunders, Founding Managing Director, & Robert Christian, Head of Research, K2 Advisors We think earnings growth trends should provide support for long/short equity strategies in 2015, particularly in terms of specialty managers in areas such as health care, technology and activism. Meanwhile, opportunities in relative value have continued to evolve due in […] Read more »