Weekly Newsreel: Madrid, Stockholm, Maple Syrup and 130/30
May 25th, 2008 | Filed under: AAA NewsreelsInalytics launches new service to analyse 130/30 funds: Thomson reports that “The firm specialises in quantitative forensic analysis to identify 130/30 managers that can add value from skill by verifying that their short positions actually generate returns.”
Nervous alternatives managers could be leaving alpha on the table: P&I reports from ”AlphaMax” in Madrid that “Fees became a point of contention between pension fund executives and hedge fund managers…with the pension executives arguing that the typical hedge fund management fee of 2% and performance fee of 20% can be a deterrent…”
8 out of 10 managers fail to add value: Meanwhile in Stockholm, Watson Wyatt’s Roger Urwin tells another conference why pensions have an allergy to “2 and 20″.
Credit Suisse kicks off launch of hedge fund replication products with index: Also not oblivious to pensions’ concern over fees, Credit Suisse launched their long-awaited “Alternative Index Replication” product (see previous posting).
Portable Alpha/Overlay Strategies Slides (pdf): Thomas Picciochi of Deutsche Asset Management and Francois Bourdon, of Fiera Capital deliver a presentation to the Society of Actuaries in March.
Prime time at Morgan Stanley’s hedge-fund debutantes ball: Asian Investor reports from a Morgan Stanley cap intro event where organizers say “2008 will be about the separation of alpha and beta”.
Merseyside seeks UK 130/30 managers: Big UK pension plan looks for someone to manage around $1billion using 130/30 or portable alpha – confirming a growing realization that the two are basically the same thing.
Japan public pensions ‘need revamp’: We’re not the only ones who think Ikea and maple syrup have a lot in common (see posting). The FT reports that “The more aggressively managed state pension funds of countries such as Sweden and Canada, whose investment strategies serve as a model for the proposals”.
