A “Great Period” for Investing into Asian Hedge Funds
More investors than before are now seriously looking to allocate to Asian hedge funds, as the Asian alternatives industry continues to mature. High quality managers set up new funds, many of them as second-generation hedge fund managers who have worked at a hedge fund before, either in Asia or overseas. As they all start out with a low asset base, investors have a better base to negotiate terms. On top, investors are now able to evaluate a broad range of funds and experienced managers who with 2008 survived yet another financial crisis.
Asian Sovereign Wealth and Institutions crave for Knowledge Transfer from Hedge Funds
This new Opalesque Roundtable discloses major trends with far-reaching consequences. However, many of those trends can only be seen and recognized by intelligent, senior experts on the ground. For institutional investors in Asia, investing in hedge funds is not about alpha in isolation, but increasingly about knowledge transfer towards developing a greater understanding and expertise. This Roundtable discusses the example of a recent request for proposal (RFP) from a large Asian investor, where a substantial weighting was placed on whether a manager had a native speaker on the client servicing/investment team.
On the structural side, more hedge funds are now launching UCITS funds or join a managed account platform. For example, about 80% of Permal's China-focused managers are in separately managed accounts. This is a positive trend and a new way to invest into Asia that will attract new investors who historically may have shied away from signing up Asia-based managers.
The 2011 Opalesque Hong Kong Roundtable was sponsored by Bingham McCutchen and took place April 21st 2011 in their Hong Kong office with:
Anne-Marie Godfrey, Partner, Bingham McCutchen
Brenda Tse, Managing Director, Permal Group
Barry Lau, Managing Partner, Gen2 Partners
Georgia Nakou, Director of Business Development and Strategy Research Hub, Altis Partners
Jean-Christophe Blanc, Senior Trader and Senior Portfolio Manager, CQS
Nyree Hu, Investor Relations, CQS
Ralph Chicktong, Managing Director, Custom House Singapore
Roushana Sjahsam, Head of South East Asia, ADM Capital
The Roundtable discussion also highlights:
Why has Hong Kong attracted far more hedge funds during 2010 than Singapore?
How do hedge funds address the demand for Renminbi denominated share classes?
Opportunities in China direct investments and how to set up pure China plays
How Hong Kong based funds compete with the Chinese shadow banking system
Who invests in Asian hedge funds?
How will Asian hedge fund managers respond to the ever increasing (Dodd-Frank, AIFM) extra-territorial regulatory impact?
Macro outlook and opportunities in Asia
Boost in wealth management: What is behind the impressive surge in Asian wealth management and family office structures?
We also thank Custom House Group for sponsoring the 2011 Opalesque Roundtable Series. Enjoy “listening in” to the Opalesque 2011 Hong Kong Roundtable!
The Opalesque Roundtable Series offers unparalleled intelligence on the most important global hedge fund jurisdictions and their players. The Roundtable Series is a free publication from Opalesque and is continually updated. Please scroll down to view the full selection of our Roundtables - covering the globe!