While some German high net-worth and family office clients are reducing exposure to absolute return strategies due to disappointing returns in the past few years, for institutions it's the opposite. Participants at the 2012 Opalesque Frankfurt Roundtable report a markedly increased demand for absolute return strategies from institutions, paired with an unprecedented appetite for new approaches in the market and preference for boutiques over very large asset management companies.
“We find ourselves talking to investors who we honestly would not have dared to approach two years ago. We see investors coming into asset classes like infrastructure and some very conservative German insurance companies looking at hedge funds and absolute return funds for the first time. Summing up, I see a lot of new sources of capital for our products”, says Christian von Strachwitz from Questa Capital.
Rolf Dreiseidler from Man Group added: “Pension funds and insurance companies invest in our products that only two or three years back would not even have considered our solutions. This is the highest demand for absolute return that I have experienced so far. What we have also observed is a shift in interest away from fund of hedge funds, with the exception of customized solutions based on managed accounts, into single manager absolute return content within a UCITS format.”
The Opalesque 2012 Frankfurt Roundtable was sponsored by Eurex and took place at the Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt on June 14th 2012 with:
Christian von Strachwitz, CIO and Board Member, Quaesta Capital AG
David Zimmer, Chief Executive Officer, Altira Group
Erik Crawford, Family Office Investor
Dr. Randolf Roth, Head of Market Structure, Eurex
Rolf Dreiseidler, Head of Institutional Clients Germany, Man Investments
Sy Schlueter, Portfolio Manager, Montan Alternative Investment
The group also discussed in detail:
The asset allocation of German high net worth and family office clients
Strategies in demand in Germany
Opportunities in:
German Residential Real Estate
German “Mittelstand”: Rewards of the Buy and Build Strategy
Trading and hedging of country specific government bond futures contracts in Europe
Asset protection solutions and Managed Futures
Renewable Energy and Infrastructure
Second wave of internet e-commerce: how will it transform finance and real estate?
Finally, we cannot have a Roundtable discussion in the heart of Europe without getting involved in the politically motivated discussion around high frequency trading and the introduction of a financial transaction tax. Read in this Roundtable about the amusing if not silly proposals to “slow down the market”, and why a financial transaction tax would kill the markets.
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