New Managers March 2012

Q&A
A researcher's view on what investors want from emerging managers

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People always want to know about emerging managers

Katherine Hill

Katherine Hill, managing director at Geneva-based Palladio Alternative Research, conducts in-depth research for investors of all types. She finds that if the investor already has a deep understanding of the strategy of the new fund, the fund manager doesn't have to start from the beginning. Also, the timing of the track record is important. The most important things to assess in a new manager, according to her, are core competence and operational set-up - not necessarily performance. Furthermore, for investors, choosing the right individual is more important than the strategy of the fund.

Also, investors also love the idea of discovering new talent or getting in early. Discoveries such that of ThirdPoint, which grew from $20m in 1996 to $1.9bn and has annualized 16%, or Lansdowne UK, which grew from $890m in 2001 to $9.5bn and which has annualized 11%, or still, Brevan Howard, which grew from $1bn in 2003 to $25bn, and with annualized returns of 13% (figures from HSBC ), serve as great past examples.

Opalesque asked Katherine Hill to talk about her research procedures and the trends she has been observing of late.

Opalesque: Do you research emerging hedge fund managers for institutional clients or other clients?

Katherine Hill: The hedge fund research that I conduct can be applied to all investor types, institutional clients but also high net worth individuals and family offices. I found all investors are interested in emerging hedge fund managers; they are not always ready to allocate to them but they definitely want research on them.

The research that ......................

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This article was published in Opalesque's New Managers a top-down monthly analysis, news and research publication on the global emerging manager space.