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Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

Ashley Gunning, a partner at investment funds group Walkers Global said that one of the trends he expects to continue this year is the increase in special situations funds where specialist managers are buying shares from existing shareholders in funds that hold illiquid assets.

"What we have seen is some special situations funds and activist investors buying those assets from the current holder at a discount, and then actively pressuring the manager to sell the underlying assets so that even at a forced sale price the new owner will profit," he told other hedge fund managers who attended the latest Opalesque 2014 Cayman Roundtable.

He also pointed out that the market is dominated by institutional groups who go from strength to strength. They raise capital quite easily, are able to manage the regulatory hurdles well and continue to launch new funds, he said.

Gunning continued, "Conversely, new start-ups – although, we have seen a slight uptick in the last six or eight months – still find it difficult to raise sufficient cash and are very much bogged down by regulatory issues and the costs associated with them."

For Kobi Dorenbush, CEO of financial services provider Caledonian Global Financial Services which is based in the Cayman Islands, one of the things he is seeing is the increase in activit......................

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