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From Precy Dumlao, Opalesque Asia:

2008 was brutal for the global financial world. All the markets were down and the hedge fund industry took a big hit as well. But South Africa shielded the local hedge funds industry from the global financial onslaught and still returned double-digit profits, claimed Carla De Waal, head of funds of hedge funds at Novare Investments at the recent Opalesque South Africa Roundtable.

The Opalesque South Africa Roundtable was sponsored by the derivatives exchange Eurex and IDS Fund Services, and it took place on November 7th, 2012 in Novare’s offices in Cape Town.

De Waal said, "In 2008, our hedge funds held up very well in terms of the global meltdown. Our local market was down 23% that year but some of the market neutral strategies were up 8% or more in Rand terms. Long/short and more directional types of strategies took a bit of a knock that year (on average down between 5% and 10%). After that, the local equity market enjoyed quite a strong run, despite some intermittent drawdown periods (most notably the 8.5% drawdown May 2011 – September 2011 – over this period local hedge funds were positive on average). But even throughout that whole period, hedge funds overall domestic......................

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