Opalesque Futures Briefing

Barclay CTA Index up 0.57pct in March; (+1.07pct YTD)

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:16:27 +0000

Managed futures gained 0.57% in March according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 1.07% year to date. “A decoupling of US growth from global markets and aggressive easing by the Bank of Japan provided the impetus for a profitable month,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Traders that were long US and Japanese…

]]> Article Link

Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index: Managed futures up 1.74 pct

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:16:14 +0000

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index finished up 1.21 per cent for the month of March, with nine of the 10 sub-strategies in positive territory. Event driven (2.11 per cent), managed futures (1.74 per cent) and long/short equity (1.38 per cent) led the way while dedicated short bias was the only sub-strategy to record a negative return, finishing…

]]> Article Link

French seeder Emergence backs Key Trends CTA vehicle

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:15:50 +0000

Emergence, the major new French asset management platform, is seeding a systematic trading strategy from KeyQuant SAS with €30 million – the third hedge fund investment made by the government-backed platform, which is advised by established seeder NewAlpha Asset Management.
Founded in 2009 by Man-Fidex veterans Robert Baguenault de Viéville and Raphael Gelrubin, Paris-based KeyQuant has managed the Key Trends…

]]> Article Link

Alts bandwagon passing by ETF start-ups

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:15:33 +0000

Alternatives may be a hot area for product development, but exchange traded fund issuers appear to be struggling to get products off the ground.
At least two firms are looking for help to boost assets in their languishing alternative strategy ETFs. Factor Advisors disclosed in a series of regulatory filings last month that its five original ETFs are at risk of…

]]> Article Link

Fund investor inflows turn negative in March - preference for credit strategies continues

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:15:21 +0000

Hedge fund flows turned negative in March to the tune of $12.4bn, but flows for the quarter were still positive $7.6bn and total industry AUM reached $2.664tn. Fund of funds flows were highly negative again in Q1, continuing to draft on overall hedge fund flows, according to the latest asset flows report from eVestment.
Investors continued to pile into credit strategies,…

]]> Article Link

Tough first quarter for commodity funds-Lipper

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:14:47 +0000

Commodity funds took a beating in the first quarter, with the average actively managed fund in the Lipper Global Commodity sector down 1.83 percent, as market volatility provided no clear direction.
A cross-commodity sell-off in mid-April led by safe-haven gold has since compounded the pain. Gold plunged about 13 percent over last Friday and Monday - its worst two-day fall in…

]]> Article Link

Commodities as hedge funds not an asset class: Kemp

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:14:26 +0000

The status of commodities as a distinct asset class is under threat following another lousy start to the year for investors.
Total returns on the two major commodity indices, the Standard and Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index and the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index, show losses of 4.4 percent and 3.7 percent respectively so far this year, while an investment in the…

]]> Article Link

Hedge fund gold wagers defy worst slump in 33 years: Commodities

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:13:58 +0000

Hedge funds increased bets on gold rallying after prices plunged the most in 33 years, underscoring billionaire John Paulson’s view that bullion will rebound.
Fund managers and other speculators increased net-long positions in gold by 9.8 percent to 61,579 futures and options in the week ended April 16, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Investors turned bullish on silver for…

]]> Article Link

Are your funds worth their fees?

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:13:22 +0000

Are your mutual funds worth what you are paying to own them? Most investors answer that crucial question backwards, saying that the fund’s results either do or do not justify the money the percentage that management keeps for itself.
The problem is that investors should answer that question looking forward, trying to come up with reasons why they believe the manager…

]]> Article Link

Aussie seeder Scout Global to launch offshore fund version of its family office emerging manager fund

Laxman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:13:08 +0000

News came this week that IMQ had seeded Romanesco Capital Management’s Persistence Fund alongside an Australian seeding company, Scout Global Funds . Oliver Alliker, director at Scout Global, explains that the firm was founded in Sydney from a family office in 2006 with the remit of investing in global emerging systematic trading managers via managed accounts.
The size of the pot…

]]> Article Link