Bloomberg- Tadashi Mukai outperformed all his hedge fund rivals in Japan last year by researching analysts, rather than companies.
Mukai’s $21 million UMJ Neutro Fund climbed 11 percent, the biggest return among 13 market-neutral funds, those that don’t take directional bets on stock benchmarks, according to data provider AsiaHedge. It gained 2.3 percent in the first two months of this year as the Topix index slumped 10 percent.
Fund adviser United Managers Japan Inc. plans to showcase that success to help boost assets to $500 million within a year even as global shares head for their largest first-quarter decline since 2001. Investors withdrew more than $7.7 billion from Japan-focused hedge funds last year as U.S. subprime mortgage defaults sapped appetite for risk.
