The performance of macro hedge funds has been surprisingly poor, given the influence of macroeconomic and political events on all asset classes since the financial crisis. In 2013, could global macro strategies return to form? …The old-school managers, epitomised by the likes of George Soros, the billionaire investor, made big, fundamentally driven bets and were prepared to withstand large profit and loss (P&L) swings. However, since the financial crisis, they have faded from the scene. New-school managers, who have a greater focus on risk management and manage P&L drawdowns aggressively, have replaced them. (Mr Dow also noted the growth in tourist macro – managers who made big money in one sector and then switched into another, making large old-school-style bets.)
Hedge fund tycoon fails to win £2billion trading codes from his wife in High Court battle after their marriage ‘turned toxic’ (DailyMail)
Two tycoons whose marriage ‘turned toxic’ have been accused by a judge of giving ‘tainted’ evidence in a bitter dispute over their hedge fund company. The legal fight between Martin Coward, 55, and 54-year-old Elena Ambrosiadou centred over computer software which made their fund IKOS into a £2.1 billion business. Miss Ambrosiadou , 54, said the trading algorithms belonged to the company and not Dr Coward who she claimed gave up his rights when he walked out on the business as their marriage fell apart. Dr Coward said he created the software.
Hedge funds shift to bearish bets on treasury 10-year notes (Business-Standard)
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators held a net-short position in 10-year note futures for the first time in almost two months amid speculation Federal Reserve officials may taper the pace of asset purchases. They moved to the bearish wagers in the week ending May 14 for the first time since March 22, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Specu-lative short positions, or bets prices will fall, outnumbered long positions by 11,153 contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Not all doom and gloom, says Marc Faber (AFR)
When Marc Faber takes a break from markets he does two things; drinks beer and goes to nightclubs. “I’m very much involved in lifting beer glasses and watching girls in nightclubs,” the economist, well known gold bug, investor and author of The Gloom Boom and Doom Report, tells The Australian Financial Review. “I drink Chang beer here in Thailand. It has an elephant on the can, and it belongs to essentially one of the richest Thais. He bought Fraser & Neave in Singapore which is Tiger beer. I think he makes very good beer.”
Japanese Pensions Moving Into Alternatives Overseas (WSJ)
Since the Bank of Japan 8301.JA +3.24% unleashed a massive new easing program last month, European and U.S. investors have waited with bated breath for more BOJ bond buys to push Japanese lifers overseas. The truth: Japanese pension funds are already ahead of them. They’ve been putting more of the world’s second-largest pool of retirement funds into everything from global real estate to Namibian debt.
Meet One Of The Youngest And Brightest Hedge Fund Analysts That Isn’t On Wall Street (Forbes)
22-year-old Alex Bosset is not your typical college student. A finance major at the University of Minnesota, he was recently ranked among the top 14 buyside analysts in a list compiled by SumZero, a social network for professional investors (co-founded by Divya Narendra and funded by the Winklevoss twins). The basis of the ranking consisted of SumZero members submitting investment ideas, which were then evaluated according to average return and peer evaluation over an 18-month period. In order to make the top 14, an analyst would need to have a portfolio of ideas with a high rate of return, while simultaneously earning a respectable average peer rating.
