Alternative Investments in Context
AIMA’s Vision Statement from Hedge Fund Industry Leaders
Apr 22nd, 2018 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Newly Added, Other Topics in A.I., The A.I. IndustrySome of the leading figures in the alt investment industry have put their dignified heads together and created a vision statement, called “Perspectives: Industry Leaders on the Future of the Hedge Fund Industry.” The gist of the paper is that firms in the industry are quickly adapting to contemporary conditionsRead More
Be Fearful When Everyone is Greedy
Apr 5th, 2018 | Filed under: Allocating to A.I., Alternative Investments in Context, Institutional Asset Management, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryA new report from Context Capital Partners looks into trends in the alternative investments industry, both among institutions and family offices. It finds continued strong demand for alt investments, as well as a rising demand within the alt world for such emerging strategies as cryptocurrency investments and environmental, social, andRead More
Firms of the Near Future: Process and Product Innovators
Jan 21st, 2018 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryLast summer the Boston Consulting Group put out a report on the global asset management industry, called “The Innovator’s Advantage.” The title was an allusion to a landmark 1997 book by Clayton Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma, which in turn was a forceful restatement of some old Schumpeterian ideas about theRead More
Institutional Investors Expect More Vol, Higher Interest Rates: But They Fear Not
Dec 17th, 2017 | Filed under: Allocating to A.I., Alpha & Beta, Alternative Investments in Context, Consultants, Institutional Asset Management, Institutional Investing, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryNatixis Investment Managers has released survey data on the mood of institutional investors around the world. Natixis, which has $961 billion in assets under management, polled the decision makers of 500 institutions that together represent more than $19 trillion of assets. Among the takeaways: investors expect more volatility, in bothRead More
Alternative Investments in Target Date Funds
Oct 3rd, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Asset allocation, Asset Allocation Models, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryVanguard, the manager of about 370 low cost traditional funds and ETFs, and an institution famously associated with low cost retail investing, has made public a new paper on the inclusion of alternative investments in target date funds. It isn’t enamored of the idea. Target date funds (TDFs), otherwise knownRead More
Investor Sentiment: Fees, Redemptions, Structures
Sep 4th, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Hedge Funds, Industry Size & Managers, Newly Added, Structure of the Hedge Funds Industry, The A.I. IndustryCredit Suisse, in its new report on its mid-year survey of hedge fund investor sentiment, says that there is “continued appetite to allocate to hedge funds” and that there is increased interest, especially, in quantitative strategies. Specifically, 81% of investors say that they will likely make allocations to hedge fundsRead More
Build Value: Don’t Just Meet Quarterly Targets!
Aug 15th, 2017 | Filed under: Allocating to A.I., Alternative Investments in Context, Institutional Asset Management, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryFCLT Global, a new not-for-profit organization that seeks to promote long-term thinking in business and finance, has issued a manifesto, “Rising to the Challenge of Short-Termism.” The paper was written by Dominic Barton, Jonathan Bailer, and Joshua Zoffer. Each is affiliated with McKinsey & Company, which is one of theRead More
Networks, Modeling, and Funds of Funds
Aug 8th, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Finance & Economics, Financial Economics Theory, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryTwo scholars affiliated with FERI Trust, a leading investment manager of the German-speaking countries of Europe, have written a study of hedge fund strategies that uses a “network-based analysis” thereof. The two authors, Eduard Baitinger and Thomas Maier, argue that hedge fund strategies show “numerous network-based properties” which help explainRead More
Hedge Funds in the United Kingdom
Jul 27th, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Industry Size & Managers, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryJust prior to the June 8 election in the UK this year, Preqin took a look at the state of the hedge fund industry there. Interest in this subject matter is high for the alternative industry globally, given London’s centrality and the great deal that is riding on how theRead More
Skin in the Game: Testing a Cliché
Jul 16th, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Asset Managers, Hedge Funds, Industry Size & Managers, Newly AddedOne of the most well-worn clichés in the hedge fund industry is the phrase “skin in the game.” Investors want managers who have “skin in the game,” that is, managers who risk/hedge their own money the same way they are risking/investing their outside investors’ money. A recent paper by ArpitRead More
Growth and Challenges for Asset Management in Italy
Jun 15th, 2017 | Filed under: Allocating to A.I., Alternative Investments in Context, ETFs, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryA recent (May 2017) Deloitte white paper discussed asset management in Italy. The paper begins with the observation that key institutions in Italian finance have a relatively short history: going no further back than the mists of the 1990s. The Società di Intermediazione Mobiliare (SIM) – literally, the phrase meansRead More
Mega-Trends and Possible Future Normals
Apr 16th, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryA new CFA Institute report, working from a survey of 1,145 leaders in the contemporary global investment industry, discusses the mega-trends at work, including: technological advance, shifting client preferences, new macroeconomic conditions, changing regulatory regimes amidst geopolitical novelties, and new demographics. The report, entitled “Future State of the Investment Profession:Read More
Pitfalls and Publicly Owned Hedge Fund Managers
Jan 31st, 2017 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Hedge Funds, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryTwo scholars affiliated with Singapore Management University have published a study of “the pitfalls of going public,” that is, of what can happen when the management of a hedge fund becomes a publicly owned company. They conclude that the going-public process itself breaks the alignment of incentives between managers andRead More
McKinsey: Historically Anomalous Period Nears an End
Nov 6th, 2016 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Infrastructure, Newly Added, Operationally Intensive Real Assets, Real Assets, The A.I. IndustryMcKinsey & Co. has posted a new report assessing the state and the future of the North American asset management industry, encompassing both active and passive managers and looking at five mega-trends. Skipping to the chase, the trends are these: The end of an anomalous eta of “exceptional investment returns.”Read More
New Paper Tackles Basic Questions About Alternative Investments
Aug 11th, 2016 | Filed under: Allocating to A.I., Alternative Investments in Context, Asset allocation, Asset Allocation Models, Newly Added, The A.I. IndustryRCM Alternatives, a Chicago-based asset manager specializing in managed futures products, has published a new white paper asking the naive-seeming question, “Why Alternatives?” The paper begins with the observation that many alternative investors look to this field for an answer to a specific problem: hedging the long position in equitiesRead More
New AIMA Guide: 7 Themes for Investor Relations Professionals
Jun 23rd, 2016 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Industry Size & Managers, Investor Relations, Newly Added, Sales & Marketing in the AI Industry, The A.I. IndustryIn October 2015, a scholar at the University of Toronto wrote a paper on what he called the “paranoid style of investment lawyers and arbitrators,” bemoaning an increasingly shrill and belligerent tone in the investment world of late. If there is such paranoia, one probable contributor, and one possible consequenceRead More
Millionaires’ Outlook: Still in Positive Numbers
Nov 12th, 2015 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Business NewsTwo indexes of confidence, one for millionaires, the other for not-quite millionaires, have returned to the level at which they stood in June of this year, after a summer rise and autumnal fall. A discussion of the arc. Read More
Hedge Funds in a Time of Weakening Recovery
Oct 27th, 2015 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Finance & Economics, The Global Economy & CurrenciesThough the recovery is showing signs of its age and weakness, this is still not the day for which tail-risk funds were designed, the moment of 'extreme distress' and victorious black swans. Thank heavens for that fact, and thank Eurekahedge for the news. Read More
The Ups & Downs of Alternative Investing.
Oct 12th, 2015 | Filed under: Alternative Investments in Context, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsIt's that time of year when investment advisers are talking about asset allocation. Guest columnist Diane Harrison explains why you should never give up on your alternative investments.Read More
Cause and Effect: Or, Shooting the Messenger
Aug 27th, 2015 | Filed under: Behavioral finance, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsNot even Schrodinger blamed the reporters for market irrationality. Saying out loud, "Hey, this cat is dead," doesn't kill the cat. Read More
Hedge Fund Assets to Increase a Quarter Trillion Dollars by Summer of 2016
Aug 19th, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Hedge Fund Strategies, Institutional Investing, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsGuest columnist Don Steinbrugge on why hedge fund AUM is set for an increase over the course of the next 12 months.Read More
Delivering Alpha Highlights: Part One
Jul 19th, 2015 | Filed under: Alpha Hunters, Alpha Seekers, Alpha Strategies, Currencies, ETFs, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsLarry Fink is "deeply worried" that the combination of share repo with high-yield debt is "one of the reasons why we have a below trend-line economy. We're not investing in the future as much as we should." Carl Icahn, predictably, has a very different view of what ails us. Read More
Vindication for Pirrong and Irwin: Why Are Trafigura’s Profits Up?
Jun 22nd, 2015 | Filed under: Commodities, Derivatives, Indexes, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsTrafigura has done quite well from the decline in crude oil prices in recent months. So well, in fact, as to throw a harsh light on a story that appeared in The New York Times in December 2013. Read More
Activism: Why the Short-termers Can Be Right
Jun 15th, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsMuch of the ubiquitous talk of the short-sightedness of nasty activist investors or traders is simply confused, analytically sloppy. It is a sort of confusion likely to have negative consequences to the extent that investors/traders themselves come to take it seriously. Read More
One Decision, Two Courts, Three Nations, Four Angles
Jun 3rd, 2015 | Filed under: Alpha Hunters, Alpha Seekers, Insolvency, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsFaille is struck by a brief passage in the recent Nortel decision (the Delaware side of the Delaware/Ontario concord over allocation) that suggests the degree to which the United States dominates the patent-granting as well as the patent-litigating world. Like what the U.K. is for defamation.... Read More
What Happens When You Pick A Fight With Activist Hedge Funds
May 12th, 2015 | Filed under: Alpha Strategies, Hedge Fund Strategies, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe tear-jerker ending to a famous Broadway musical comes to Faille's mind as he contemplates the latest twist in the struggle over DuPont's board. Read More
Does the hedge fund industry benefit society?
Mar 30th, 2015 | Filed under: Alpha Hunters, Alpha Strategies, Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Hedge Fund Strategies, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsGuest columnist Donald Steinbrugge, CFA, looks at the bad rap hedge funds have gotten and talks about why it's not deserved.Read More
Yes, Speech is Free for Short Sellers, Too
Dec 23rd, 2014 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, Legislation/Court rulings, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe success of Wynn's lawsuit would have chilled free speech by short sellers. So let us take a moment to celebrate its quick demise at the hands of Judge Orrick. As a general rule, though, when a plaintiff quotes an expression from a transcript that, in fact, is immediately preceded by the word "not," and the plaintiff leaves the "not" out of the quote ... things are knotty. Read More
Thoughts about Latest Insider-Trading Scandal
Oct 30th, 2014 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe story on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, about the Dendreon/Provenge investigations, focuses on trading in Dendreon stock over a three week period, beginning with the date of an e-mail sent out on June 7th, 2010. Read More
Terwilliger’s Legal Troubles: Give Mark Cuban a Cigar
Aug 7th, 2014 | Filed under: Alpha Strategies, Media Coverage of Hedge Funds, RegulatoryThe great thing about short sellers has always been that -- if they're good -- it's because they have a keen nose that can smell a boiler room. If they are open about what they're doing, they can also serve as a valuable red light for others in connection with overblown enthusiasms. Don't be the bag holder. Read More
Why are Hedge Fund Assets Reaching All-time Highs?
May 12th, 2014 | Filed under: Alpha Hunters, Asset allocation, Institutional Investing, Media Coverage of Hedge Funds, Performance, Analytics & MetricsGuest columnist Don Steinbrugge looks at why allocators continue to invest in hedge funds, even when the media thinks they shouldn't.Read More
The Mere Whisper of the Name ‘Soros’
May 15th, 2013 | Filed under: Currencies, Forex, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsFacile parallels notwithstanding, neither the argument Druckenmiller made at Sohn nor any other good reasons that may now exist for shorting the Aussie have a lot to do with the case against the pound in 1992. That tug-of-war occurred in a unique context, not here replicated. Read More
Hedge Funds as Metaphor: And Not in a Good Way
Apr 22nd, 2013 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsOne take-away from David Stockman's new best selling book is that the phrase "hedge fund" may well be on its way beyond descriptive significance. In the public realm, a "hedge fund" is now as much a metaphor as is a "Trojan horse." It is becoming a metaphor for any institution's failure to hedge. Read More
Hedge Funds & the Global Economic Crisis: Willing Culprits or Easy Scapegoats?
Oct 11th, 2012 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge Funds“It was quite convenient to blame the Hedge Funds. They were an easy target, in that they were super-rich, a lot of them were American, and they were presented as bad people. They were blamed for what was happening to our banking system, which in reality was complete rubbish.”--Kate Walsh, Sunday Times, 2010.Read More
Old News (but still timely): Federal Common Law Torts Don’t Exist
Jul 6th, 2011 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsOne of the long-term trends that the hedge fund industry, and many others, face is the fact that the new media have unpredictable and sometimes unsettling consequences for many ways of doing business, including ways of finding alpha. The case of Barclays v. Fly on the Wall illustrates some of those consequences.Read More
Three split-strikes and you’re out
Feb 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge Funds"Bernie" is back in the headlines, squawking from the jailhouse about how the banks and others should have seen his scheme for what it was - and actually may have. The broader question is whether suspicions about Madoff's bogus strategy would have made a difference.Read More
Study quantifies media biases regarding hedge funds and proposes way for hedge funds to exploit them
Jul 13th, 2010 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsHedge funds and the mass media have always had a love/hate relationship (with emphasis on the "hate" part). But it turns out that an analysis of media word choices - and the choices of words in funds' own press releases - may contain valuable information. Read More
Hedge funds: Not the juiced-up, ready-to-destroy-financial-markets types many believe
Jun 9th, 2010 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsA new report on the challenges faced by the hedge fund industry reveals some somewhat positive news: that hedge funds weren't the renegade, levered up, ready-to-destroy-the-global-financial-markets types that many believed.Read More
Cold Snap: What’s a “frozen” hedge fund asset really worth?
Jan 3rd, 2010 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Operations and Risk Management, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe administrator in charge of distributing the frozen assets of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced last week that it had struck a deal to return some $11 billion to creditors. But how exactly are those assets being valued?Read More
Columnist argues hedge funds should be “regulated out of existence.” Time for a reality check.
May 21st, 2009 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsEarlier this week a widely-read columnist provided a wonderful example of the challenges faced by those who wish to ban hedge funds - a lack of hard data.Read More
CDS Guilt Trip
Apr 1st, 2009 | Filed under: Institutional Investing, Media Coverage of Hedge FundsWere Credit Default Swaps of symptom or a cause of AIG's downfall? Was AIG really a "hedge fund"? These questions and more are addressed in a new paper by the traffic cop in the "intersection of law and finance". Read More
More mystical dates
Feb 13th, 2009 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe so-called "D-Day" is here once again. With about 45 days left until the end of Q1, market watchers turn an eye toward hedge fund redemptions as a possible explanation for all that ails markets.Read More
Newsreel: Who’s writing these headlines?
Feb 11th, 2009 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsWhen we read some hedge fund headlines, we are forced to ask ourselves a critical question: WTF? (that's "Whither the facts...") Read More
Ponzipalooza
Jan 11th, 2009 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsNow everyone from pensions to governments to legitimate hedge funds are in the Ponzi game. Given this, we guess it shouldn't be that hard for the SEC to rack-up the score. Read More
Signs of Hope
Nov 16th, 2008 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsBarton Biggs says the hedge fund industry isn't coming to an end after all. What if he's right?Read More
Stigma of redemption gates fading fast
Nov 3rd, 2008 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsBack in the old days (like, in August), shutting a "redemption gate" used to be a form of punishment. Now it's more like "tough love". Read More
Leaving Lake Wobegon
Oct 13th, 2008 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsWhat faces the asset management after the dust settles? Hopefully, a sober and renewed examination of alpha across all investments - not a renunciation of it. Read More
If hedge funds are “heading for the rocks”, it’s to rescue long-only castaways
Oct 2nd, 2008 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThere's no question that it's rough seas ahead for hedge funds. But the industry will weather this storm better than many think.Read More
HedgeWorld Through the Ages
Aug 17th, 2008 | Filed under: Media Coverage of Hedge FundsThe acquisition of Reuters by Thomson sounded the death knell last week for one of the industry's first online portals. Read More