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Wall Street Journal – Man Group PLC said its assets are growing again after a 15-month decline that saw the funds it manages nearly halve, as redemptions from institutional clients markedly slowed in its fiscal second quarter.
Funds under management now stand at around $43.8 billion, from $43.3 billion at June 30 and down from their peak of $79.5 billion in June 2008.
Analysts said the news was encouraging and some raised their ratings and price targets. Man Group shares rose as much as 8% and at 0900 GMT were trading at 332 pence, up 23 pence or 7.6%.
Bloomberg – Vicis Capital LLC, the $2.9 billion hedge fund started by former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. trader John Succo in 2004, barred clients from withdrawing money from its main fund after losses this year.
The firm received “higher-than-anticipated” requests for a Sept. 30 distribution from its Vicis Capital Fund, according to a letter sent to clients today and obtained by Bloomberg News. The New York-based hedge fund will resume withdrawals if clients approve a plan to separate hard-to-sell assets into another pool, the letter said.
Hedge funds and bank trading desks are hiring again and have already snapped up some of the most talented managers who were dislodged while firms struggled in the credit crisis, industry insiders said. Hedge funds endured a tough 2008 in which nearly 1,500 portfolios closed, according to Hedge Fund Research, as performance slumped and clients pulled out cash.
However, as returns have improved and redemptions slowed, some funds have grown confident enough about attractive investment opportunities to take on staff — particularly marketing executives to help lure back assets, operations staff and fund managers expert in popular strategies.
Cayman Compass – The average hedge fund recorded gains of 2.42 per cent in July data released by hedge fund data provider Hedge Fund Research shows. Hedge fund assets have increased on average by more than 12 per cent in the first seven months of this year. In July the increase was driven by higher equity market returns, Hedge Fund Research said.
July was the fifth month of consecutive gains for the industry, which lost a record 19 per cent overall in 2008. While the hedge fund industry currently experiences its best year since 1998, most fund manager have not yet recovered from last year’s losses and record redemptions in the final quarter of 2008.
Cayman Compass – The average hedge fund recorded gains of 2.42 per cent in July data released by hedge fund data provider Hedge Fund Research shows. Hedge fund assets have increased on average by more than 12 per cent in the first seven months of this year. In July the increase was driven by higher equity market returns, Hedge Fund Research said.
July was the fifth month of consecutive gains for the industry, which lost a record 19 per cent overall in 2008. While the hedge fund industry currently experiences its best year since 1998, most fund manager have not yet recovered from last year’s losses and record redemptions in the final quarter of 2008.
Wall Street Journal Blogs – Are hedge-fund managers making a comeback with investors? The great recession hammered the hedge-fund industry in 2008. Returns tumbled, redemptions soared and investors began questioning the very underpinnings of the industry. Active managers promise to beat, rather than match, the market’s overall returns and charge fees that can be at least 10 times higher than those of index funds.
The WSJ reported in June that an increasing number of big investors are concluding that stock and bond pickers failed to add any value in the market turmoil and are shifting to index funds. A survey by Greenwich Associates at the time found that about one in five institutional investors said they recently had shifted money away from active managers and into passive index strategies. That was up from just 4% who expected to make that shift when asked from July to October 2008.
Forbes – Long-only hedge fund strategies posted the best returns of the asset class in July as global stock markets continued their upward trend, according to data in a report published by Lipper Global on Tuesday.
As the industry looks to repair itself following last year’s heavy losses and record redemptions, these new figures will give more ammunition to market watchers who claim that the industry is on the road to recovery.
Stuff – Hedge funds posted more gains last month, providing fresh evidence that the US$1.4 trillion industry is recovering after last year’s heavy losses and record redemptions.
The average hedge fund gained 2.42 percent in July after having inched up 0.13 percent in June, data released on Friday by performance and flows tracking group Hedge Fund Research show.
On average the funds are up 12.17 percent for the year through July 31, the data show.
Reuters – Hedge funds posted more gains last month, providing fresh evidence that the $1.4 trillion industry is recovering after last year’s heavy losses and record redemptions.
The average hedge fund gained 2.42 percent in July after having inched up 0.13 percent in June, data released on Friday by performance and flows tracking group Hedge Fund Research show.
On average the funds are up 12.17 percent for the year through July 31, the data show.
Bloomberg – Brazilian hedge funds lured about 8.2 billion reais ($4.52 billion) in July, the biggest monthly inflow this year, as a rebounding economy and record low interest rates increased demand for stocks and other higher- yielding assets.
The investment helped the funds recoup their 2009 losses, according to data through July 30 released by the National Association of Investment Banks. Hedge funds, known as multimercados, received 3.5 billion reais this year through July 30 as the industry began to lure back some of the record 54.6 billion reais of redemptions in 2008, according to the agency.
HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Assets invested in the hedge fund industry increased by $100 billion in the second quarter of 2009, ending at $1.43 trillion, according to figures released by Hedge Fund Research (HFR). This is the first quarterly increase in assets since 2Q 08, when total industry capital peaked at $1.93 trillion.
The strong performance was led by strategies focusing on Emerging Markets, Convertible Arbitrage and Energy/Basic Materials. These three areas were among the weakest performers in 2008, showing the dramatic shift in market dynamics that has taken place this year.
Investors redeemed $42.8 billion from hedge funds in the second quarter, approximately 60% less than the $103 billion that was redeemed in 1Q 09 and an even more significant drop from the $152 billion that was withdrawn in 4Q 08.
Funds of Hedge Funds continued to experience a higher percentage of capital redemptions than single-manager strategies, as investors withdrew $33 billion from Funds of Hedge Funds in the second quarter. Total capital invested in hedge funds via Funds of Hedge Funds currently stands at $530 billion, 37 percent of the industry’s total capital and well below the $825 billion which were invested through Funds of Funds at their peak level in mid-2008.
HFR also reports that the number of hedge funds, including both single-manager and funds of funds, remained approximately flat during the quarter at just over 8,900. The performance of the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite is now available hedged into four foreign currencies, including Euro, British Pound Sterling, Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen.
"Reflecting the diverse drivers of hedge fund industry performance, recent gains have occurred in an environment in which developed equity markets have been essentially flat", Kenneth J. Heinz, President of Hedge Fund Research Inc, said. "Improved liquidity in credit markets contributed to narrowing some of the pricing dislocations that were created near the end of 2008, and the combination of improved credit markets, gains in emerging markets, and decreased risk aversion have driven broad-based gains in 2009."
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net
alex@hedgeco.net
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HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Credit Suisse Tremont Index LLC released a new research piece, 1H 2009 Hedge Fund Update: Halfway There, a review of how hedge funds have repositioned themselves in the first half of 2009 to generate positive returns for five out of the first six months of the year.
The report discusses how hedge funds have generated year-to-date returns of 7.2% through June 30, outperforming, with lower volatility, both key equity and bond indices. Some key takeaways from the report include:
* The Convertible Arbitrage, Emerging Markets, and Global Macro sectors have received increased attention as investors began to regain their appetite for risk and global markets rallied.
* Performance has improved across most sectors, with the bulk of returns for many strategies moving into positive territory for the year, with 80% of all funds reporting positive returns for the second quarter.
* Overall industry assets under management have dropped approximately $18 billion since the end of the first quarter of 2009; we estimate industry assets totaled $1.3 trillion as of June 30 – down from $1.5 trillion at the end of 2008.
* As of June 30, 2009, an estimated 9.6% of funds were classified as impaired, meaning they have either suspended redemptions, imposed gate provisions or sidepocketed assets.
Credit Suisse is comprised of a number of legal entities around the world and is headquartered in Zurich. The registered shares of Credit Suisse’s parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares, in New York.
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
