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Reuters – Hedge funds using technical indicators are likely to fare better in the next two years than those purely basing their strategy on economic fundamentals, a survey of around 200 investors showed on Wednesday.
The survey of asset managers, institutions, and high net worth investors at the Global Alternative Investment Management (GAIM) Fund of Funds conference in Geneva showed 36 percent saw such trading-based strategies set to outperform in 2009-2010.
These strategies generally use technical indicators or a combination of technical and fundamental indicators to make short or medium-term bets on market movements.
Long/short equity strategies were chosen by 16.7 percent. Long/short managers vary their overall market exposure via long positions in those equities that they expect to outperform the broader market and short positions in those expected to underperform.
TIMES – The ups and downs of the Dow are making Wall Street’s so-called "smart money" look dopey. Hedge funds lost nearly $300 billion due to bad investments in the first nine months of the year, according to an analysis of return data by TIME.com.
If the losses stand it would be by far the worst year for these funds, which are unregulated and open only to high-net worth investors, since their returns began being tracked in the mid-1970s. "It’s not going to be a good year," says Peter Laurelli, vice-president at HedgeFund.net. "We can be pretty sure of that."
The calculation does not include gains some of the funds may have made in Monday’s rally, but analysts say that won’t be nearly enough to erase the hundreds of billions of dollars the funds are down. "The losses should concern every investor because these are supposed to be the smartest guys out there," says Charles Gradante, who is the co-founder of hedge fund advisory firm Hennesse Group. "If they can’t manage their investments how is average person with a 401(k) supposed to cope?"
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Archer Financial Services (AFS), has launched Balarie Capital Management ("BCM"), a division of AFS created with the specific purpose of helping Institutional and High Net Worth investors achieve diversification by providing them with products and services that are typically non-correlated with their traditional investment portfolios.
AFS, an Introducing Broker, is wholly owned by ADM Investor Services, Inc. The brokerage also announced the appointment of Emanuel Balarie as managing director of the division.
"Mr. Balarie brings on board industry expertise in both the commodities and managed futures arena" said Kurt Johnson, President of AFS. "The combination of his experience, BCM’s consultative approach to managed futures investments, access to hundreds of Commodity Trading Advisors all over the globe, and the financial integrity and operational structure of ADMIS will allow us to provide investors with a wide array of products and services."
Emanuel Balarie added, "While the asset flow in the managed futures sector has increased significantly over the last several years, we still feel that there is a need for a firm that is able to provide a consultative approach to managed futures portfolios. The goal is not to recommend cookie-cutter type portfolios for every investor, but to look at the investor’s individual profile and portfolio to determine the specific allocation that is most appropriate for the investor. This approach is especially attractive to institutions and investors that have to meet specific portfolio requirements."
BCM works with high-net worth investors, family offices, pensions, and endowment funds who are interested in adding managed futures to their investment portfolios. In addition, Balarie, through its affiliation with ADMIS, offers clearing and execution services for Commodity Trading Advisors, Fund of Funds, and professional traders.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Alternative investment platform, Altegris Investments, has plans to expand their research team under the leadership of Mr. Allen Cheng, an accomplished hedge fund investment professional with extensive industry experience.
Cheng joins Altegris as Managing Director, Research and Investments, and will be a member of the Altegris Investment Committee, with responsibility for evaluating investment strategy and completing product review for the Altegris platform of alternative investments.
"Allen’s breadth of experience in alternative investments, with both major financial institutions as well as private investment firms, complements the deep knowledge base of our research team," said Jon Sundt, President of Altegris Investments. "We are dedicated to maintaining a world-class research team, under Allen’s expert leadership, to accomplish our mission of providing high quality alternative investments to wealth managers and high net worth investors."
Cheng joins Altegris from his recent role as Managing Director, Head of Fund of Funds Portfolio Management at Bank of America’s Alternative Investment Group. He has significant experience in the alternative investment industry, particularly in the area of identifying, selecting, and monitoring hedge fund managers across multiple investment disciplines.
"Altegris offers clients a unique, open-architecture platform of alternative investments, supported by extensive review and ongoing monitoring," said Cheng. "I am energized by the opportunity to join this team specializing in alternative investments and to expand our in-depth research capabilities."
The Altegris team finds, selects and negotiates capacity with selected hedge funds, managed futures funds, and other alternative investments. Currently, investors have allocated more than $2.4 billion in trading level to alternative investments available through the Altegris platform. The Altegris Group of Companies includes Altegris Investments, APM Funds, and other affiliates.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Noci Pictures Entertainment has launched a one-stop global film finance and production service consulting division. The fund is aimed at hedge funds, ultra high net worth investors, tax credit buyers, purchaser representatives, family offices, and private equity firms.
According to Noci, "Many established filmmakers and agencies involved in independent film finance and packaging face the same dilemma of throwing multiple film projects against the wall and hoping one will stick with a limited number of studios and private equity."
With a plethora of incentives ranging from United States state and federal tax incentives that in some instances can be monetized upfront to cover a portion of a budget and offset risk to private equity investors, to overseas co-production incentives that can be maximized to finance quality films, Noci Pictures Entertainment’s stratrgy is to be a one stop resource, including arranging debt finance, foreign sales agency representation, talent packaging, and more.
Countries such as Canada, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Australia, And New Zealand have film finance incentives that can be accessed to finance any number of film projects, according to the company.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net)- A recent Bank of America Survey of high net worth Americans indicates that US investors understand the risk and rewards of hedge fund investments. Many expressed greater satisfaction over the last 12 months with their holdings in alternatives, including hedge funds, venture capital, real estate and private equity, than their more traditional investments, including stocks and bonds.
Surveying more than 400 high net worth investors with greater than $3 million in investable assets, 267 held investments in alternatives overall, including 92 who held investments in hedge funds or hedge funds of funds. Nearly one-third (32%) of the data collected focused on the attitudes of individuals with investable assets of $10 million or more.
The findings also indicated a positive relationship between satisfaction with alternative investments and the length of time the investments were held. Investors with 10 or more years of experience in alternatives were almost twice as likely as those with fewer than 10 years of experience to be "extremely satisfied” with their total portfolio since their initial investment.
Negative stories published about hedge funds appear not to have deterred experienced hedge fund investors, according to the survey’s findings. When asked if negative publicity about hedge funds impacted their investment decisions, 44 percent of those invested in hedge fund vehicles said no and only 20 percent said yes.
"Our study demonstrates that, despite the portrayal of hedge fund investors as risk-takers investing in aggressive managers," David Bailin, president of Bank of America Alternative Investment Solutions, said, "Many high net worth investors have a realistic understanding of the risks associated with their holdings and realize that large alternatives managers are institutional in their investment approach and the quality of their investment professionals.”
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) New York-based Fairfield Greenwich Group ("FGG"), a $16.6 billion global hedge fund and fund of hedge funds management firm has formed a cooperative venture with Sceptre Investment Counsel Limited, one of Canada’s leading independent money management firms.
The venture sees two of the oldest, most established, and most accomplished management firms in their respective markets forming a mutually supportive relationship to provide Sceptre’s clients access to the best-of-breed alternative asset products on FGG’s global platform.
"Sceptre has many strong relationships in the Canadian investment community, and our clients have long trusted us to manage their pooled funds, mutual funds, and other investments. FGG manages some of the industry’s finest funds of hedge funds and other alternative asset products." Richard L. Knowles, Sceptre’s President and CEO said, "We believe that Sceptre’s clients will understand the great value that FGG brings to the table, and that they will have considerable interest in the outstanding hedged products to which they may now gain access through this new relationship."
"We are excited to be working with Sceptre in Canada. For more than 25 years, FGG’s expertise in manager selection, due diligence, and risk management has benefited our investors." David B. Horn, Partner and Chief Global Strategist of FGG commented, "We have great confidence that Sceptre’s extensive network of investors will appreciate the quality and diversity of FGG’s platform of products, and the institutional investment and risk management with which we support it."
Sceptre manages client assets of $9.5 billion, utilizing a broadly diversified investment approach. Originally founded as an institutional fund manager, Sceptre has broadened its expertise to include both retail and private client portfolio management. Sceptre manages segregated and pooled fund portfolios for pension and other savings plans of corporations, government sponsored funds, universities, unions, charitable foundations, endowments and reserve funds of insurance companies.
