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NEWSLETTER | 19 Mar 2021

Hedge funds are never slow to seize on evolving investment ideas, and with markets feeling very much like they’re in a state of flux at the moment, the slew of new openings, hires and trades emerging this week – following something of a dearth of launches in recent years – once again speaks to the agile, entrepreneurial spirit of this industry.

This week’s feature story profiles New York-based credit hedge fund Mill Hill Capital, which has built a formidable reputation with its market neutral, relative value approach to structured finance markets. Founder and chief investment officer David Meneret, and Nick Pepe, chief operating officer, managing partner and head of business development, discuss in-depth how dislocations across a raft of credit assets are throwing up an assortment of trade ideas.

LIOR Global Partners – a new ESG-focused discretionary global macro hedge fund firm – was unveiled by ex-H2O Asset Management PM Jeremy Touboul and Raphaël Remond, former CEO of State Street France. The new strategy is built around an expansive mix of directional, relative value and thematic ideas, both long and short, across credit, equities, sovereign bonds and currencies.

Meanwhile, Lombard Odier Investment Managers has appointed ex-Sandell Asset Management portfolio manager Raj Davé to run a new strategy within its hedge fund and alternatives-focused unit 1798 Alternatives, which will scope out burgeoning opportunities arising within the special situations and event driven sphere.

Blackstone Alternative Asset Management has named Scott Bommer, ex-SAB Capital Management founder, as chief investment officer of its new Blackstone Horizon platform, which will tap into global secular growth trends by investing in and partnering with high-performing investment managers.

Elsewhere, metals and mining specialist Delbrook Capital believes the improving economic outlook will provide a boost to industrial metals and bulk materials, and is steadily positioning its long/short equity fund accordingly, while eschewing the safe-haven precious metals trade its sees as having run out of steam.

On the flipside, however, this week also served up a timely reminder of the assortment of market hazards that hedge fund managers of all stripes continue to face.

Cineworld saw its share price soar earlier in the week, putting a dent in a number of fund portfolios holding bets against the beleaguered movie theatre chain. The FTSE 250-listed stock, a long-standing target among a range of short sellers, has been on an upward momentum this year, having earlier rallied during the GameStop trading frenzy.

Hugh Leask

Editor, Hedgeweek

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

The world’s first causal AI platform, created by deep-tech scaleup causaLens, is being leveraged by financial services companies, including Aviva Investors, 2IQ, TIAA, CLS Group and a raft of prominent hedge funds), to automatically extract valuable causal insights from financial data and therefore boost the profitability of their trading strategies.

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bybit has launched three new USDT trading pairs with Cardano's ADA, Polkadot's DOT and Uniswap's UNI.

Telos launches new DeFi platform TSwaps

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

Blockchain platform Telos has launched of TSwaps, its new full-featured DeFi platform.

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) has selected Refinitiv, an LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) business, to publish its recommended spread adjustments and spread-adjusted rates for cash products, following a robust request for proposals (RFP) process.

Eze Castle Integration joins AIMA as sponsoring partner

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

Eze Castle Integration, a provider of end-to-end technology solutions, has become a Sponsoring Partner of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).

Paving stones on the path to success

Fri | 19 Mar 2021, 12:10

The trajectory of a startup hedge fund does not solely depend on the strength of the investment strategy on offer. Several elements must come together to set managers on their journey towards a successful first capital raise which will see them grow into emerging firms.