Liquid Alts
Understanding the Limitations of Liquid Alternatives
Jul 30th, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Alternative Mutual Funds, 130/30, Liquid Alts, Alternative Investments in Context, Smart Beta, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I.
By Shana Sissel, CAIA, Spotlight Asset Group More than a decade ago the world of alternative investments witnessed hedge-fund-inspired Investment Act of 1940 (40 Act) funds appear on the scene. Much like their private alternative counterparts, liquid alternatives offer valuable diversification benefits within traditional portfolios, but it’s important to keepRead More
The Allusivity Premium
Jun 22nd, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, What about beta?, Liquid Alts, Alternative Investments in Context, Smart Beta, Institutional Asset Management, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.By Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association Since this What About Beta column started about two years and almost 75 entries ago, the goal has always been to take a CAIA article, a relevant news story, or an industry trend and amplify it, replete with an occasional catchy title, and maybeRead More
ETFs, Systemic Risks, and a Real-Time Test
May 5th, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative InvestimentsETFs are one of the routes by which once alternative and elite-access-only strategies have become democratized or gone retail. As a result of this trend, we have synthetic ETFs, smart beta ETFs, leveraged ETFs, and inverse ETFs. A recent study study provides some reassurance about concerns that have motivated kickbackRead More
Peeling Back the Wrapper of Hedge Fund Strategies
Apr 13th, 2020 | Filed under: CAPM / Alpha Theory, Hedge Fund Strategies, Alpha & Beta, Equity Hedge Funds, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Alpha Strategies, Event-Driven Hedge Funds, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Liquid Alts, Institutional Asset Management, Macro and Managed Futures Funds, Hedge Funds, Relative Value Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Aaron Filbeck, CAIA, CFA, CIPM, Associate Director, Content Development at CAIA Association During CAIA Association’s most recent Virtual Chapter event, Keith and I (virtually) sat down with Chris Tidmore, CFA, CPA at The Vanguard Group to discuss Vanguard’s recent whitepaper, “The Wrapper Matters: Comparing Liquid Alternatives to Hedge Funds”Read More
Where has all the diversification gone?
Apr 7th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Beth Anne Byrne and Kara O’Halloran, FS Investments Warren Buffett’s famous quote reads “You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out”. The tide is most certainly out now, and many portfolios have been exposed. The historic bull market has ended, and with it theRead More
ESG ETFs: A Warning About Opacity
Mar 15th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ESG, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.A recent paper by two legal scholars warns of the absence of transparency, of the opacity, that investors may face in ESG funds and ESG exchange-traded funds. “Buyer Beware: Variation and Opacity in ESG ad ESG Index Funds,” is the work of Dana Brackman Reiser and Anne M. Tucker, whoRead More
3 Threats to Hedge Funds
Mar 8th, 2020 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Hedge Fund Regulation, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Regulatory Environment, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Fees, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I.A recent paper by a scholar at Tilburg University and a market participant at Robeco outlines the difficulties that the hedge fund industry has faced over the last decade. These problems arose, at least in part, from the democratization of alternative investing. There are three important challenges to the hedgeRead More
ESG vs Low-Carbon Investing
Mar 1st, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ESG, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch @FactorResearch INTRODUCTION Investors seeking exposure to global equities with a low carbon footprint could consider the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon ETF (CRBN) or SPDR MSCI ACWI Low Carbon ETF (LOWC). CRBN has $500 million of assets under management, compared with $90 million for LOWC.Read More
Avoiding Silver Bullets
Feb 24th, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, What about beta?, Liquid Alts, Smart Beta, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Aaron Filbeck, CFA, CAIA, CIPM – Associate Director, Content Development at CAIA Association Whether it’s that some retail versions of alternative investments have not lived up to their private counterparts, or that retail investors may be last in the buffet line for private placements, there are several arguments againstRead More
Negative Interest Rates: A Reason to Invest in Hedge Funds?
Sep 9th, 2019 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, CTA, Equity Hedge Funds, Newly Added, Alpha Strategies, Event-Driven Hedge Funds, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Macro and Managed Futures Funds, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I.Negative interest rate policy—that is, central bank arrangements that seek to inspire spending by punishing savings, not merely in real but in nominal terms—have spread in recent years among the developed economies, and are now in use in Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Eurozone. Denmark got the ball rolling inRead More
PORTFOLIO PROTECTION VIA MANAGED FUTURES LIQUID ALTS?
Sep 8th, 2019 | Filed under: Commodities, Hedge Fund Strategies, CTA, Investing in Commodities, Newly Added, Alternative Mutual Funds, Liquid Alts, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Macro and Managed Futures Funds, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Commodities, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch (@FactorResearch) INTRODUCTION The mafia and the hedge fund industry share some characteristics. Both are powerful, non-transparent, and create little value for society. Naturally the mafia is a criminal organization while the only “criminal” element of hedge funds are the high fees they are charging forRead More
Mind the Gap: The Unforeseen Consequences of Smart Beta
Jun 27th, 2019 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Alpha & Beta, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ETFs, Smart Beta, The A.I. Industry, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.A new paper by Sean Markowicz, a strategist at Schroders, looks into the possibility that fund flows into the assets generically called smart beta are having detrimental consequences for the financial system. It also sheds some light on investors’ bad timing regarding ETFs. The assets at issue are, according toRead More
What Do Owners Think of Smart Beta Strategies?
Jun 23rd, 2019 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Smart Beta, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.FTSE Russell has posted its sixth annual survey of global asset owners’ views of smart beta. Smart beta is a strategy that uses indexes, but that is not traditionally cap-weighted, that is, one where the construction of the index itself incorporates the investment strategy, capturing investment factors or market inefficiencies.Read More
A HORSE RACE OF LIQUID ALTERNATIVES
Jun 13th, 2019 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, CTA, Investing in Commodities, Equity Hedge Funds, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Macro and Managed Futures Funds, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Commodities, Other Topics in A.I.By Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch (@FactorResearch) INTRODUCTION Investing is challenging as it is complex and complicated, which requires continuous learning and updating of mental frameworks. Conflicts and contradictions are found everywhere. For example, data from the mutual fund industry shows that most funds fail to outperform their benchmarks, but investors inRead More
Canadian Mutual Funds Readying to Launch Liquid Alternatives
Nov 18th, 2018 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Alternative Mutual Funds, Liquid Alts, Smart Beta, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Sales & Marketing in the AI Industry, Other Topics in A.I.Scotiabank recently released what it calls a “high-level guide for mutual fund companies interested in launching liquid alternative products.” The creation of this guide was stimulated by a reform of the regulations of the Canadian Securities Administrators, aimed at making liquid alternatives more readily available to investors in Canada. OnRead More
SSGA on Smart Beta
Feb 8th, 2018 | Filed under: Alpha & Beta, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Smart Beta, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.State Street Global Advisers has put out a “Complete Guide to Smart Beta.” A preface by Lynn S. Blake explains that the focus of the paper is not on equity products but on “exciting new developments in the fixed income world.” Within that space, multi-factor strategies will proliferate going forward.Read More
KPMG: Alternative Investment Industry Deal Momentum Continues
Aug 1st, 2017 | Filed under: Newly Added, Regulatory Environment, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.The auditing giant KPMG says in a recent report on merger and acquisition activity in the alternative asset management world that there was a dip in activity in this space in 2015, that there was a rebound “to more normalized levels” in 2016, and that the momentum off of thatRead More
What They’re Saying About Smart Beta, Tactics, and Strategy
Jun 13th, 2017 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Smart Beta, Liquid Alternative Investiments, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.For four years now, FTSE Russell has surveyed global institutions, asking about their interest in smart beta indexes and about their allocations to investable products based on same. The 2017 survey results are in. The new survey finds (as did the earlier ones) that risk reduction, return enhancement, and improvedRead More
Generation Two Liquid Alternatives
Apr 25th, 2017 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Sales & Marketing in the AI Industry, Other Topics in A.I.Beachhead Capital Management has published a white paper on what it calls the “second generation of liquid alternatives.” To begin at the beginning, “liquid alternatives” are investment products, available to retail investors, for example through mutual funds or ETFs, which are designed to provide the diversification and absolute-return benefits typicallyRead More
BlackRock: Smart Beta Strategies Have Room for Growth
Mar 5th, 2017 | Filed under: Alpha & Beta, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ETFs, Smart Beta, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.A recent Columbia Business School research paper looks into the transaction costs associated with smart beta strategies in order to estimate the capacity of each strategy. The three authors of the report are all affiliated with asset manager BlackRock Inc. They are: Ronald Ratcliffe, Paolo Miranda, and Andrew Ang. RatcliffeRead More
Liquid Alternatives: A Look Back at Mercer’s Look Around
Feb 23rd, 2017 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.The market for liquid alternatives continues to grow and adapt. On St. Valentine’s Day of this year, ABR Dynamic Funds announced that it was launching its first Irish-domiciled UCITS V fund. Maybe it should have waited until St. Patrick’s Day? At any rate, the fund “seeks U.S. participation in aRead More
Aftermath of 2008: Reactions to Decreased Liquidity
Nov 20th, 2016 | Filed under: Newly Added, Regulatory Environment, The Global Economy & Currencies, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Macroeconomics, Finance & Economics, Other Topics in A.I.A new report from State Street Corporation and the Alternative Investment Management Association says that nearly half of the market participants surveyed believe that decreased market liquidity is a secular change, not a cyclical one: that is, that it is a climate that is here to stay, not a rainRead More
Long/Short Equity: NB Makes the Case
Jun 9th, 2016 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, Equity Hedge Funds, Newly Added, Liquid Alts, Hedge Funds, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.A new paper from Neuberger Berman, an employee owned private investment firm that’s been part of the New York scene since 1939, makes the case that long/short equity strategies are “worth consideration as part of an investor’s equity allocation and the overall investment mix.” The paper is written by JulianaRead More
The SEC: Still Fiddling with a 1940 Era Carburetor
May 3rd, 2016 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative Mutual Funds, Regulatory, Regulatory Environment, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.Steven A. Keen of Perkins Coie has posted an insightful discussion of section 18 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, and of the pending proposed regulation under that mandate, Rule 18f-4, on one of that firm’s blogs, the Derivatives & Repo Report. Both that proposal and Keen’s observations areRead More
Alternative Multi-Manager Mutual Funds: What’s the Value Proposition, Again?
Jan 25th, 2016 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Retail Investing, Newly Added, Alternative Mutual Funds, Liquid Alts, Fees, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Structure of the Hedge Funds Industry, Other Topics in A.I.By Andrew Beer New products are sold on a story. For alternative multi-manager mutual funds – most of which have launched since 2012 – the pitch goes something like this: we can find top tier hedge fund managers to run various alternative investment strategies – equity long/short, relative value, macro,Read More
AIMA: 44% of Hedge Fund Firms Planning New Launches in 2016
Dec 20th, 2015 | Filed under: Industry Size & Managers, Newly Added, Asset Managers, Liquid Alts, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.A global survey by PwC and the Alternative Investment Management Association looks at the expansion of the hedge fund industry and the evolution of its distribution model. The most eye-catching statistic from the survey us that 44% of fund managers responding said that they will launch a new fund byRead More
Foundations: They’ve Taken a Blow from “Subdued” Markets
Sep 2nd, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Performance, Analytics & Metrics, Hedge Fund Strategies, Institutional Investing, Indexes, Risk management, Liquid AltsBoth private and community foundations depend heavily on U.S. equities. Indeed, domestic equities remained the bright spot while other strategies underperformed in 2014. A new report from a collaboration of the Council on Foundations and Commonfund provides food for thought about the reversal in foundation returns in that year. TheRead More
Alternative Investments By the Numbers: Top 5 2015 YTD Takeaways
Jul 23rd, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Performance, Analytics & Metrics, Private Equity, Hedge Fund Strategies, Alpha Strategies, Liquid AltsGuest columnist Andre Boreas takes a look at the alternative investment universe year-to-date 2015 by the numbers.Read More
European Investor Satisfaction with Smart Beta ETFs
Jun 28th, 2015 | Filed under: CAPM / Alpha Theory, Alpha Strategies, Risk management, Liquid Alts, ETFs, Smart BetaTwo authors at EDHEC remind us that 15% of the assets in any ETF or ETF-like products for European investors were in smart-beta indexed products as of August 2014, and that this amount is growing. They discuss the extent to which investors are pleased with their results. Read More
Hybrid Equity: Another Perspective on Private Equity
Jun 14th, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Retail Investing, Private Equity, Alpha Hunters, Alpha Strategies, Liquid AltsManagers who offer funds that provide shorter time frames to investment exits, greater liquidity through a hedge fund structure, and employ the event-driven skill set that identifies and manages an investment portfolio yielding private equity-like returns are finding increased interest from an investment community seeking returns married with reasonable liquidity. Read More
A New Index: The Eurekahedge 50
Jun 1st, 2015 | Filed under: Portable Alpha & Alpha/Beta Separation, Alternative Beta & Hedge Fund Replication, Indexes, Liquid AltsIt appears likely that the new index, the Eurekahedge 50, as well as the daily tracker index that has been built around it, will have aspirational significance. It is designed to set a bar that will be very difficult for other alpha seekers to clear, yet easy for replicators to follow. Read More
Do you like or dislike equity?
Mar 1st, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, Liquid AltsJohn Shearman, CAIA, guest columnist explores the basics of liquid alts.Read More
A Metaphorical Map that Proposes an Unbound Barbell
Feb 12th, 2015 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Strategies, Alternative Beta & Hedge Fund Replication, Alternative Mutual Funds, Alpha Hunters, Alpha Strategies, Risk management, Asset allocation, Liquid AltsThe hedge fund universe has become a much more complicated place since 2008. The old-school hedge funds offering only quarterly redemptions with at least one month notice are no longer the only option for those seeking alternatives plays. And those who are seeking such plays may be somewhat confused by the proliferation of possibilities. Read More
Business Development Companies: The Basics
Nov 20th, 2014 | Filed under: Private Equity, Liquid AltsGuest columnist Andrew Smith, CAIA, traces the history of Business Development Companies.Read More
Not Your Grandfather’s Market: The Evolution of Liquid Alternatives
Oct 5th, 2014 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Alternative Mutual Funds, Alpha Hunters, Liquid AltsGuest columnist Andrew Smith, CAIA, traces the rise and growth of liquid alternatives.Read More