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Legends4Legends
September 15, 2016
The event raised nearly €70,000 for A4C through individual donations from attendees and speakers as well as firms who just wanted to donate. Attendees included pension funds, family offices, private banks, consultants, high net worth individuals and fund managers from across Europe, Asia and the USA. The initial feedback we have gotten was highly supportive.
With nearly 250 people attending the unique EYE Film Museum location, the inaugural Legends4Legends event, organized by and for the benefit of Alternatives4Children (A4C), was a great success.With an unrivalled line-up of top-tier hedge fund managers we tried to get behind the reasons for recent struggling hedge fund performance and to the answer the main question for the day:
“How to achieve returns in today’s environment without exposing yourself to the Great Unwind”
We got candid answers from some of the most established names in the industry and got away with an increased enthusiasm for the opportunity set at hand, that looks to be quite different than the buy&hold strategy of equities and bonds which has been the winning strategy for the last few years.
“It’s not the central banks that are stupid, it’s the investors that all put so much emphasis on their words.”
“The one real structural challenge I find to what we are doing, especially here in Europe, is the difficulty of finding real talent. With the barriers to start a hedge funds much higher, it’s much tougher to find talent that you’ve seen develop at other funds. I see no evidence that industry size, the growth of passive investing or instant information for everyone would limit the opportunity for hedge funds.”
“We’re cautious on equity markets and turned net short, especially in Europe. Especially the upcoming referendum in Italy worries us as well as the complacent view of a Clinton win in November. A 30 percent correction in Europe wouldn’t surprise us as perceptions change. It will be a buying opportunity.”
“Hedge funds have to get their act together so they once again live up to the fees they charge. Those who can’t have no right to exist.”
“Through Porsche, one can buy Volkswagen at a PE of 3, which is tremendous value no matter the costs of the emission scandal.”
“We have invested 20bln in hedge funds and are happy with the results that have been in line with expectations.”
We also held the first “Winning for the Future” awards. The aim of the awards was to promote in particular ESG and Operational issues as well as performance. This did not mean that funds had to be ‘’green’’ or have an ESG bias to win or qualify – it simply demonstrated that funds have an awareness of ESG issues which is critical in the decision making process of many institutions today. Although the application process took some time for the managers, in many cases if a fund manager has a good operational set up a lot of the time spent in answering the information is reduced because the information is ready to hand. This actually emphasizes our message that operational preparedness and strength is important and with the right mindset helps you to answer the questions.
There were 5 categories and each had 2 winners – the Pioneers – the Legends of Tomorrow and the Performers – the Legends of Today.
Compliance Infrastructure:
– Pioneers: Trium Blackwall Europe L/S Fund
– Performers: Adamas Asian Opportunity Fund
Operational Infrastructure and Enterprise Risk management:
– Pioneers: CIAM CIMA Opportunities
– Performers: Gladwyne Master Fund
Corporate governance:
– Pioneers: Eyck European Tactical Opportunities Fund
– Performers: Saemor Europe Alpha Fund
ESG:
– Pioneers: Privium Sustainable Alternatives Fund
– Performers: Saemor Europe Alpha Fund
Legend of today and tomorrow:
– Pioneers: Trium Blackwall Europe LS Fund
– Performers: Saemor Europe Alpha Fund
© Jacqueline Dersjant