Editor's view: 29 July 2010
Like Paris in the spring, the lure of the Ucits space is proving a heady experience for many managers. First Europe fell for the charms of these onshore products, now the Americans are joining in a communal swoon.
03/02/2010
Vicis Capital suffers in 2009 despite con arb recovery
The announcement that redemption-hit Vicis Capital is to put its second fund launch on
hold is a case of ‘too much too soon’ for the hedge fund. Vicis built up from a standing start to manage of more than $5bn in AuM in just three years, before watching it all fall
apart in 2009.
To see hedge funds falling off the cliff in 2008 wasn’t surprising, but to survive and then unravel at the end of 2009 certainly is. Surprisingly for a convertibles-heavy fund, Vicis struggled on performance in 2009; Of all the strategies you wanted to be in, and there were many, convertibles was a great bet, if not the best.
The strategy came back strong in 2009 after a couple of years in the wilderness and Barclayhedge’s data reveals the average convertible arbitrage fund was up more than 50%.
Vicis Capital International, however, was down more than 10% through November last year. The poor performance could be down to offloading the convertibles to meet redemption requests throughout last year.
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Comment: Amy B Hirsch
"It is imperative that investors of all types ensure they understand the relationship between the introducing party and the manager"
Investors sit tight on impaired assets
Playing the ‘what if’ game can be fun but, depending on the number of variables in question, it can get a little out of control. Apply this conceit to the hedge fund sector's performance during the financial crisis and the possible permutations become legion.
Hedge fund inflows in Q2
Hedge inflows have slowed as volatile markets made sitting on the sidelines the safest option in Q2. According to figures from HFR, the quarter’s $9.5bn - a 30% drop from Q1’s $14bn – reflected the 'wait and see' policy of many investors as the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite dropped -2.5%. With nerves setting in, recent predictions of a boom of interest in the alpha potential of smaller managers also fell flat, with the lion’s share of money going to large $5bn-plus managers.
Read MoreFunds of hedge funds fall out of favour
A growing number of institutional investors are now opting to invest directly into hedge funds instead of allocating to the space via funds of hedge funds.
Read More
22/09/2010
UK: Ucits IV
This month’s HFMWeek Subscriber Club breakfast will take place on Wednesday 22 September. Join us and…
30/09/2010
US: topic to be confirmed
The next HFMWeek Subscriber Club breakfast will take place on Thursday 30 September. Topic and…
19/07/10
HFM Week US Performance Awards
Following the success of the last year’s HFM US Hedge Fund Performance Awards we...
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