hedge funds

Institutional investors are predicting significant growth and risk-adjusted returns in the hedge fund sector over the next few years, according to new global research from Beacon Platform Inc., a provider of portfolio analytics and risk management solutions.

Sustainable investing may be taking the wider investment fund world by storm, especially in Europe. But when it comes to liquid alternative funds, the sustainable wave is less advanced.

Some in the liquid alternative space remain openly dismissive of sustainability as an investment principle. Certain liquid alternative providers use derivatives,  making it more difficult to integrate sustainability criteria. Derivatives are excluded from the EU’s Taxonomy.

Hedge funds with a macro or multi-strategy focus were among the best performing funds in the first quarter, shielding investors from geopolitical turmoil, high inflation numbers and shifting monetary policies, according to Preqin, a privately-held London-based investment data company that provides financial data and information on the alternative assets market.

The firm said that, in a historical context, first quarter performance was “certainly disappointing but hedge funds managed to guard investors against major pullbacks.” 

The search for yield is causing a rotation among institutional investors from classical investments to better yielding alternatives, such as hedge funds. Insurers such as AXA expect hundreds of billions in ultra low or negative yielding government bonds to be exchanged for other investments in the coming years.

Institutional investors are increasingly turning to hedge fund strategies in response to low bond yields and high-priced equity markets. Some investors are building hedge fund allocations for the first time, while a second group is refining and improving existing hedge fund allocations, according to international independent investment consultancy bfinance in a recent report. 

The research firm notes that hedge fund portfolio construction has changed against a backdrop of increased uncertainty, given the pandemic and its macroeconomic consequences.

Have hedge fund managers just lost it? More and more leading managers are returning assets to their clients. The reason is the melt-up of the market, making it ever harder for short-sellers to identify profitable trades.

For example, this summer John Paulson (photo), who earned $15 billion from the collapse of the US housing market in 2008, known as “The Greatest Trade Ever”, announced his departure from the hedge fund industry. Others, such as George Soros, Stanley Druckenmiller and David Tepper, preceded him.

BNP Paribas Asset Management recently launched a long-short strategy aimed at companies related to the energy transition. Portfolio manager Edward Lees (photo) explains how the fund is putting pressure on non-sustainable companies and thus achieve a positive impact on the energy transition.