Multi-manager funds were down 5.05% over the first four months of 2020, underperforming their single-manager counterparts who lost 4.59% over the same period. In 2019, the fund of funds industry registered 8.59% return - recording their best annual performance since 2009. The strong global equity market supported the performance of multi-manager funds on the back of expansionary monetary policies of the central banks - particularly the Federal Reserve and the ECB, and positive geopolitical development surrounding the US-China trade negotiations. However, market risk aversion resurfaced in the beginning of 2020 as the spread of COVID-19 which was eventually declared to be a pandemic, forced government authorities to impose lockdowns and strict social distancing measures, forcing businesses deemed non-essential to temporarily cease their operations. The global equity market witnessed a substantial decline as it recorded 21.44% loss in the first quarter of the year. Read more

Trade finance hedge funds have gained traction over recent years, driven by investor demand for alternative asset classes with low volatility and consistent return, as well as low correlation against the broader financial market. The sector began its rapid growth following the global financial crisis in 2008, when banks started reducing their trade finance exposure to meet Basel III capital requirements. To address the lack of a standard benchmark for this niche hedge fund strategy, Eurekahedge launched the industry’s first trade finance hedge fund index in 2018, providing institutional investors with a benchmark index representing the performance of trade finance hedge fund managers. Read more

The Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index was down 9.61% year-to-date as of March 2020, outperforming the underlying equity market as represented by the MSCI North America IMI, which lost 21.40% over the same period. The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak outside Mainland China has forced government authorities to implement lockdown and social distancing measures, resulting in a massive sell-off in the global equity market. In 2019, North American hedge funds ended the year returning 9.11% - their strongest annual performance since 2013, supported by the robust performance of risk assets. The US and China agreed on a phase one trade deal in October, boosting the performance of global equities in the latter part of the year. The deal was officially signed in January 2020. Market risk sentiment completely shifted in early 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19, which posed a significant risk to the global economic outlook. In response, the US Congress approved a historic US$2 trillion economic stimulus package, while the Federal Reserve concurrently cut their policy rates to zero on top of restarting their quantitative easing program to support the economy. The US equity benchmarks suffered massive declines in February and March, which resulted in their worst quarterly performances since the 2008 global financial crisis. The DJIA and S&P 500 were down 23.20% and 20.00% respectively over the first quarter of 2020. Read more

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become an increasingly crucial tool for both institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to certain markets or hedge risks at a low cost in recent years. The explosive growth of the assets managed through ETFs has been largely driven by the increase in popularity of index funds, ETFs designed to track the performance of an index. An index fund could be used by retail investors to passively invest in equity markets, or by fund managers to easily adjust their portfolio exposure towards certain markets. The instant liquidity, transparency and low expenses of ETFs have been some of the primary advantages offered by ETFs over other types of investment vehicles such as mutual funds and hedge funds. Read more

Hedge fund managers ended the first quarter of 2020 down 6.42%, while delivering their strongest post-2008 monthly outperformance over the global equity market as represented by the MSCI ACWI IMI. The escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has spread to more than a hundred countries around the globe over the past two months, has weighed on the performance of risk assets in February and March Read more

The Eurekahedge Global Hedge Fund Awards have been launched with the intent of identifying and celebrating the very best of hedge fund managers in the Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) across 45 award categories carefully designed to track key strategic and regional mandates within the global hedge funds industry. In addition to this, we have introduced specialised awards that recognise the performance of new entrants to the industry as well as 'consistency awards' for established players that have continued to add value for institutional investors over the years. Read more

Altinvestor APAC 2020 will be Eurekahedge’s 5th European asset owners’ forum and the 8th one of its kind across Europe and Asia Pacific, delivering unique investment insights from leading family offices, pension funds and insurers on a broad range of alternative investment topics. The event will be taking place at Conrad, Hong Kong on 9 – 10 September 2020. The two-day forum is organised in a closed-door setting under the Chatham House Rule*. The programme agenda features only asset owners as speakers and contributors and is made up of exclusive presentations, case studies, closed-door roundtable discussions as well as private meetings which enables asset owners to learn and share investment insights with one another more openly. More

Altinvestor Europe 2020 will be Eurekahedge’s 4th European asset owners’ forum and the 9th one of its kind across Europe and Asia Pacific, delivering unique investment insights from leading family offices, pension funds and insurers on a broad range of alternative investment topics. The event will be taking place at the majestic Baur Au Lac hotel in Zurich, Switzerland on 5 – 6 November 2020. The two-day forum is organised in a closed-door setting under the Chatham House Rule*. The programme agenda features only asset owners as speakers and contributors and is made up of exclusive presentations, case studies, closed-door roundtable discussions as well as private meetings which enables asset owners to learn and share investment insights with one another more openly. More

The 2020 edition of the prestigious Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Awards will be held in Singapore this December. This will be the 17th edition of the awards ceremony which has been running successfully since 2004 to recognise and celebrate the very best of Asian hedge fund managers. If you are interested in a sponsorship or would like to secure your seat, please email awards@eurekahedge.com to register your interest. More

Altinvestor Europe 2019 which took place in Zurich, Switzerland is Eurekahedge’s third European asset owners’ event, delivering exclusive insights from family offices as well as institutional asset owners on exploring alternative assets and optimising portfolio returns. This two-day forum is a closed-door event (observing the Chatham House Rule*) aimed at facilitating a private environment for candid discussions and to serve as a melting pot of ideas connecting Europe’s leading investors under one roof. The programme features leading family offices as well as institutional asset owners such as pension funds, insurers, foundations and endowments, in the form of various presentations, case studies, panel discussions, round tables and private discussions. More

The 16th annual Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Awards ceremony took place on 24 May 2019 with a total of 240 attendees coming together to celebrate 61 of the best performing Asian hedge funds of 2018. KS Asia Absolute Return Fund came out tops, securing the Best Asian Hedge Fund award, along with Most Consistent Asia-based Hedge Fund and Best Asian Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund. This year we conducted an SMS auction and live auction to raise funds for charity partner Autism Resource Centre (Singapore). A total of S$36,335 was raised thanks to the efforts and contributions from guests and we greatly appreciate the support. More

The 4th Altinvestor APAC event was held in Hong Kong to bring together family offices as well as institutional asset owners to exchange ideas and insights on managing diversified investment portfolios. As a closed-door event, the two-day forum provided exclusive alternative investment insights and perspectives shared by leading APAC investors along with selected global investors. Altinvestor APAC 2019 is an asset owners' event dominated by attendees such as family offices, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations and endowments. More