Maples: Increase in number of new Russian funds Stephen Lewis

External investors perceived the Russian market as tough earlier in the year when the Crimean issues arose, says Stephen Lewis, Director of European Business Development for Maples Fund Services. AuM fell in several funds. However they later recovered. "The redemptions and recovery were primarily in funds with external investors."

"We have also seen an increase in the number of new Russian funds, asset classes and structures," he continues. "This growth has been fueled by Russian investors looking to diversify their portfolio and spread their risk. We administer a variety of Cayman structures and have seen a great deal of interest in Irish structures. The asset classes range from the traditional global equity and fixed income, through real assets, private equity and real estate, to various hedge fund strategies."...

(Full article from B. Gravrand here). Hedge funds try new expensive products to attract retreating institutional investors

Institutional investors' shifting allocation strategies are driving hedge funds towards new products, according to Ernst & Young's 2014 hedge fund and investor survey called Shifting strategies: winning investor assets in a competitive landscape. As there are less assets coming from institutional investors, hedge funds are trying to new products to attract them, while not fully understanding these products' costs and their effect on margins, the survey says. ... Almost a quarter of managers that launched a new product in the last three years talked about negative impact on margins. They included sub-advisory arrangements (43% said it had a negative impact), registered products ......................

To view our full article please login

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