By Manuel Arrivé and Alastair Sewell of Fitch Ratings Faster Industry Changes Ahead: Fitch Ratings’ view is that the European asset management industry is ripe for faster change and possibly disruption. As an industry that has historically been slow and reluctant to change, asset managers show varying degrees of willingness and ability to adapt but the status […] Read more »
Beta Component of Returns Hits Absolute Return Funds – Fitch
By Manuel Arrivé and Alastair Sewell of Fitch Ratings Returns Reveal Beta Exposures in Absolute Return Funds Absolute Return (AR) funds showed their poorest performance since 2008, with average 12-month rolling returns sinking to – 5.2%, principally as a result of poorly managed drawdowns. Only 11% of funds showed positive performance over 12 months […] Read more »
BlueBay’s Discipline, Flexibility and Team Depth Highlighted By Fitch
By Hedge Fund Insight staff Fitch Ratings has just released its views of the Absolute Return Funds of London-based BlueBay Asset Management – BlueBay Investment Grade Absolute Return Bond Fund (IGARF) and BlueBay Investment Grade Libor Fund (IGL). BlueBay is a specialist credit asset manager with AUM of USD59.1bn at end-March 2015 (USD28.3bn in investment grade […] Read more »
Sciens Faces a Series of Challenges According to Fitch
By Manuel Arrive, Senior Director Fitch Ratings In a review of the rating covering Sciens’s Fund of Hedge fund (FoHF) and Managed Account Platform (MAP), Sciens Fund of Funds Management Holdings Ltd. has been rated as having High Standards and with a stable outlook by Fitch Ratings. Sciens Capital Management LLC (SCM) began alternative asset […] Read more »
Benefits of Oaktree’s Expansion Into New Product Categories Recognised
From Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings has completed a peer review of five rated Alternative Asset Managers (AAMs) and upgraded one of them, Oaktree Capital Group. Based on this review, Fitch has upgraded the Long-term Issuer Default Rating and unsecured debt rating of Oaktree to ‘A’ from ‘A-‘. The upgrade of Oaktree’s ratings reflects the firm’s […] Read more »
Market Disruption and Smaller Flows to Credit Funds Anticipated
By Manuel Arrive, Fitch France S.A.S., and Alastair Sewell, Fitch Ratings London Fitch Ratings expects credit markets to be less directional in the coming months. As a result, short duration, lower volatility and absolute return strategies with more performance contribution from bond picking will gain traction and are currently being launched by most advanced asset […] Read more »
Strategic Rethinking Required by European Asset Managers
By Fitch Ratings Paris/London (Aymeric Poizot, Roger Schneider, Richard Woodrow) In a new report, Fitch Ratings says that European asset managers need to strategically review their product offerings and re-shape their activities by strengthening their key areas of expertise, scaling down or outsourcing others areas, and expanding in neighbouring activities while investing in new […] Read more »