Retail Hedge-Fund Mkt Perking Up
HEDGE FUNDS are creeping into the investment mainstream in Asia as retail investors —— weary of several years of stock-market losses —— are increasingly attracted by the prospect of ending the year with more money than they started out with. Mutual funds may beat their benchmarks, but what fun is that when it means losing less than the index?
Mutual funds have never really caught on in this part of the world, but retail hedge funds just might —— given their possibility for world-beating returns, and despite that they offer a whole new category of major risk for the investor.
And if hedge-fund companies are salivating to get going in Asia, it isn't hard to see why. Globally, hedge-fund assets have skyrocketed to US$600 billion in 2001 from US$45 billion in 1990, according to industry estimates. But Asian investors account for only around US$30 billion of those assets.
'We're seeing more interest in hedge funds because of the poor returns in the equity markets. Investors are tired of their fund outperforming a benchmark but still posting a loss,' says Ophelia Tong, investment director at HT Capital Management Ltd., a boutique hedge-fund firm that manages a US$25 million portfolio.
The newest market for retail hedge-fund investors is Hong Kong, where regulators are scheduled to announce later this week how many funds have been authorized to sell to noninstitutional investors.
Singapore is set to release before the year's end revised guidelines for retail hedge funds, which include a S$20,000 (US$11,300) minimum for funds of hedge funds and S$100,000 minimum for single-strategy funds. (Wealthy investors across the Asian-Pacific region, especially in Japan and Australia, have had access to hedge funds for years either through their banks or directly through managers.)
Are well-to-do but not wealthy Asians ready to evaluate hedge funds properly? Unlike managers of traditional funds that make long-term investment decisions and stick by them, hedge-fund managers have the flexibility to adjust their portfolio to take advantage of new opportunities or discrepancies among markets or assets. It is precisely that flexibility that makes the fund manager the single biggest risk in investing in hedge funds.
It also makes investing in hedge funds as risky at times as investing in a single stock, which may make a hedge fund a poor substitute for the risk-averse investment in a mutual fund.
'Being able to analyze the quality of a single hedge fund is a highly complex and time-consuming process that a novice investor is not equipped to perform,' says Nicholas Chalmers, associate director of the Alternative Investment Group at Schroder Investment Management. Schroder has pending applications in Hong Kong for retail funds of hedge funds and single-strategy funds.
When it comes to choosing products, most advisers recommend funds of hedge funds over single-strategy funds. Funds of hedge funds usually invest in between 30 to 50 hedge funds and exposure to the underlying portfolios is usually equally weighted. 'Investing in funds of hedge funds offers diversification, which reduces the risk of losing your money,' says Malik Sarwar, Singapore-based regional director for investment at CitiGold, the consumer banking arm of Citibank NA.
For investors brave enough to go with a single fund, one adviser recommends sticking with 'long/short equity' strategy. According to Stewart Aldcroft, managing director at Investec Asset Management Asia, long-short is the most popular among investors because it is the easiest to understand: the fund either buys stocks, or else sells them short. In a short sale, an investor borrows securities and hopes to make a profit by buying an equal number of shares later at a lower price to replace the borrowed securities.
在亞洲﹐對(duì)沖基金正在悄悄進(jìn)入投資主流﹐對(duì)股市連年下挫感到厭倦的散戶(hù)投資者正越來(lái)越被對(duì)沖基金展現(xiàn)的前景所吸引﹐這一前景便是投資資金的年終水平將超越年初。共同基金的表現(xiàn)雖然可能強(qiáng)于股市基準(zhǔn)指數(shù)﹐但如果這種相對(duì)強(qiáng)勢(shì)僅僅意味著跌幅較小時(shí)﹐又有什么意思呢﹖共同基金從未真正在亞洲獲得流行﹐但零售對(duì)沖基金風(fēng)行一時(shí)仍有可能﹐因?yàn)榇祟?lèi)基金有可能實(shí)現(xiàn)全球的回報(bào)率﹐盡管它們也為投資者帶來(lái)了一種全新的高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
如果說(shuō)對(duì)沖基金公司垂涎亞洲市場(chǎng)﹐其原因也不難看出。據(jù)行業(yè)估算數(shù)字﹐2001年﹐全球?qū)_基金的資產(chǎn)從1990年的450億美元飆升至6,000億美元。但亞洲投資者在這些資產(chǎn)中僅占300億美元左右。
"由于股市回報(bào)率非常糟糕﹐我們看到（投資者）對(duì)對(duì)沖基金的興趣越來(lái)越大。投資者再也不想看到基金表現(xiàn)雖然強(qiáng)于大盤(pán)﹐但依然虧損的情況﹐"HT Capital Management Ltd.的投資主管Ophelia Tong說(shuō)。HT是一家小型對(duì)沖基金公司﹐管理著2,500萬(wàn)美元的投資組合。
對(duì)于零售對(duì)沖基金投資者來(lái)說(shuō)﹐香港是最新的市場(chǎng)。本周晚些時(shí)候﹐香港監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)將宣布已獲準(zhǔn)向非機(jī)構(gòu)投資者銷(xiāo)售的對(duì)沖基金的數(shù)量。
新加坡將在年底前公布零售對(duì)沖基金指導(dǎo)修正案﹐其中對(duì)沖基金的基金最低投資額將降至2萬(wàn)新元（合1.13萬(wàn)美元）﹐單一策略基金的最低投資額將降至10萬(wàn)新元。亞太地區(qū)（特別是日本和澳大利亞）的富有投資者﹐可通過(guò)銀行或直接通過(guò)基金經(jīng)理﹐投資對(duì)沖基金已有多年。
小康但不富有的亞洲人是否已能恰當(dāng)?shù)卦u(píng)估對(duì)沖基金﹖與傳統(tǒng)基金經(jīng)理制定長(zhǎng)期投資決策并進(jìn)而貫徹的做法不同﹐對(duì)沖基金經(jīng)理要有靈活性﹐能夠?qū)ν顿Y組合作出調(diào)整﹐以利用各種機(jī)會(huì)以及不同市場(chǎng)或資產(chǎn)之間的價(jià)差。也正是這種靈活性﹐使得基金經(jīng)理成了投資對(duì)沖基金時(shí)的﹑也是的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
有時(shí)﹐這也使投資對(duì)沖基金與投資單一一只股票一樣充滿(mǎn)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。因此﹐如果共同基金將對(duì)沖基金作為其避險(xiǎn)投資的替代選擇﹐可能會(huì)很糟糕。
"分析單一對(duì)沖基金的質(zhì)量是一個(gè)非常復(fù)雜和耗時(shí)的過(guò)程﹐絕非新投資者所能勝任﹐"寶源投資管理公司(Schroder Investment Management)旗下另類(lèi)投資部門(mén)的副主管尼古拉斯．查爾墨斯(Nicholas Chalmers)說(shuō)。在香港﹐寶源投資管理公司正在申請(qǐng)對(duì)沖基金的零售基金以及單一策略基金。
談及投資選擇﹐大部分顧問(wèn)認(rèn)為﹐對(duì)沖基金的基金優(yōu)于單一策略基金。對(duì)沖基金的基金通常投資于30至50只對(duì)沖基金﹐相關(guān)投資組合的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)通常比較均衡。"投資對(duì)沖基金的基金可提供多元化選擇﹐降低損失風(fēng)險(xiǎn)﹐"CitiGold駐新加坡的地區(qū)投資主管馬利克．薩沃爾(Malik Sarwar)說(shuō)。CitiGold是花旗銀行(Citibank NA)的消費(fèi)者銀行部門(mén)。
對(duì)有足夠膽量投資于單一基金的投資者來(lái)說(shuō)﹐一位顧問(wèn)建議﹐堅(jiān)持"多頭/空頭股票"策略。據(jù)Investec Asset Management Asia的董事總經(jīng)理史蒂沃特．阿爾德克羅夫特(Stewart Aldcroft)說(shuō)﹐多頭/空頭策略是投資者歡迎的策略﹐因?yàn)樗钜子诶斫猢s基金或是買(mǎi)進(jìn)股票﹐或是賣(mài)空股票。在賣(mài)空交易中﹐投資者借入證券﹐并期望將來(lái)以較低的價(jià)格買(mǎi)入同等數(shù)量的股票﹐藉此歸還原先所借的證券并獲得投資收益。
HEDGE FUNDS are creeping into the investment mainstream in Asia as retail investors —— weary of several years of stock-market losses —— are increasingly attracted by the prospect of ending the year with more money than they started out with. Mutual funds may beat their benchmarks, but what fun is that when it means losing less than the index?
Mutual funds have never really caught on in this part of the world, but retail hedge funds just might —— given their possibility for world-beating returns, and despite that they offer a whole new category of major risk for the investor.
And if hedge-fund companies are salivating to get going in Asia, it isn't hard to see why. Globally, hedge-fund assets have skyrocketed to US$600 billion in 2001 from US$45 billion in 1990, according to industry estimates. But Asian investors account for only around US$30 billion of those assets.
'We're seeing more interest in hedge funds because of the poor returns in the equity markets. Investors are tired of their fund outperforming a benchmark but still posting a loss,' says Ophelia Tong, investment director at HT Capital Management Ltd., a boutique hedge-fund firm that manages a US$25 million portfolio.
The newest market for retail hedge-fund investors is Hong Kong, where regulators are scheduled to announce later this week how many funds have been authorized to sell to noninstitutional investors.
Singapore is set to release before the year's end revised guidelines for retail hedge funds, which include a S$20,000 (US$11,300) minimum for funds of hedge funds and S$100,000 minimum for single-strategy funds. (Wealthy investors across the Asian-Pacific region, especially in Japan and Australia, have had access to hedge funds for years either through their banks or directly through managers.)
Are well-to-do but not wealthy Asians ready to evaluate hedge funds properly? Unlike managers of traditional funds that make long-term investment decisions and stick by them, hedge-fund managers have the flexibility to adjust their portfolio to take advantage of new opportunities or discrepancies among markets or assets. It is precisely that flexibility that makes the fund manager the single biggest risk in investing in hedge funds.
It also makes investing in hedge funds as risky at times as investing in a single stock, which may make a hedge fund a poor substitute for the risk-averse investment in a mutual fund.
'Being able to analyze the quality of a single hedge fund is a highly complex and time-consuming process that a novice investor is not equipped to perform,' says Nicholas Chalmers, associate director of the Alternative Investment Group at Schroder Investment Management. Schroder has pending applications in Hong Kong for retail funds of hedge funds and single-strategy funds.
When it comes to choosing products, most advisers recommend funds of hedge funds over single-strategy funds. Funds of hedge funds usually invest in between 30 to 50 hedge funds and exposure to the underlying portfolios is usually equally weighted. 'Investing in funds of hedge funds offers diversification, which reduces the risk of losing your money,' says Malik Sarwar, Singapore-based regional director for investment at CitiGold, the consumer banking arm of Citibank NA.
For investors brave enough to go with a single fund, one adviser recommends sticking with 'long/short equity' strategy. According to Stewart Aldcroft, managing director at Investec Asset Management Asia, long-short is the most popular among investors because it is the easiest to understand: the fund either buys stocks, or else sells them short. In a short sale, an investor borrows securities and hopes to make a profit by buying an equal number of shares later at a lower price to replace the borrowed securities.
在亞洲﹐對(duì)沖基金正在悄悄進(jìn)入投資主流﹐對(duì)股市連年下挫感到厭倦的散戶(hù)投資者正越來(lái)越被對(duì)沖基金展現(xiàn)的前景所吸引﹐這一前景便是投資資金的年終水平將超越年初。共同基金的表現(xiàn)雖然可能強(qiáng)于股市基準(zhǔn)指數(shù)﹐但如果這種相對(duì)強(qiáng)勢(shì)僅僅意味著跌幅較小時(shí)﹐又有什么意思呢﹖共同基金從未真正在亞洲獲得流行﹐但零售對(duì)沖基金風(fēng)行一時(shí)仍有可能﹐因?yàn)榇祟?lèi)基金有可能實(shí)現(xiàn)全球的回報(bào)率﹐盡管它們也為投資者帶來(lái)了一種全新的高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
如果說(shuō)對(duì)沖基金公司垂涎亞洲市場(chǎng)﹐其原因也不難看出。據(jù)行業(yè)估算數(shù)字﹐2001年﹐全球?qū)_基金的資產(chǎn)從1990年的450億美元飆升至6,000億美元。但亞洲投資者在這些資產(chǎn)中僅占300億美元左右。
"由于股市回報(bào)率非常糟糕﹐我們看到（投資者）對(duì)對(duì)沖基金的興趣越來(lái)越大。投資者再也不想看到基金表現(xiàn)雖然強(qiáng)于大盤(pán)﹐但依然虧損的情況﹐"HT Capital Management Ltd.的投資主管Ophelia Tong說(shuō)。HT是一家小型對(duì)沖基金公司﹐管理著2,500萬(wàn)美元的投資組合。
對(duì)于零售對(duì)沖基金投資者來(lái)說(shuō)﹐香港是最新的市場(chǎng)。本周晚些時(shí)候﹐香港監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)將宣布已獲準(zhǔn)向非機(jī)構(gòu)投資者銷(xiāo)售的對(duì)沖基金的數(shù)量。
新加坡將在年底前公布零售對(duì)沖基金指導(dǎo)修正案﹐其中對(duì)沖基金的基金最低投資額將降至2萬(wàn)新元（合1.13萬(wàn)美元）﹐單一策略基金的最低投資額將降至10萬(wàn)新元。亞太地區(qū)（特別是日本和澳大利亞）的富有投資者﹐可通過(guò)銀行或直接通過(guò)基金經(jīng)理﹐投資對(duì)沖基金已有多年。
小康但不富有的亞洲人是否已能恰當(dāng)?shù)卦u(píng)估對(duì)沖基金﹖與傳統(tǒng)基金經(jīng)理制定長(zhǎng)期投資決策并進(jìn)而貫徹的做法不同﹐對(duì)沖基金經(jīng)理要有靈活性﹐能夠?qū)ν顿Y組合作出調(diào)整﹐以利用各種機(jī)會(huì)以及不同市場(chǎng)或資產(chǎn)之間的價(jià)差。也正是這種靈活性﹐使得基金經(jīng)理成了投資對(duì)沖基金時(shí)的﹑也是的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
有時(shí)﹐這也使投資對(duì)沖基金與投資單一一只股票一樣充滿(mǎn)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。因此﹐如果共同基金將對(duì)沖基金作為其避險(xiǎn)投資的替代選擇﹐可能會(huì)很糟糕。
"分析單一對(duì)沖基金的質(zhì)量是一個(gè)非常復(fù)雜和耗時(shí)的過(guò)程﹐絕非新投資者所能勝任﹐"寶源投資管理公司(Schroder Investment Management)旗下另類(lèi)投資部門(mén)的副主管尼古拉斯．查爾墨斯(Nicholas Chalmers)說(shuō)。在香港﹐寶源投資管理公司正在申請(qǐng)對(duì)沖基金的零售基金以及單一策略基金。
談及投資選擇﹐大部分顧問(wèn)認(rèn)為﹐對(duì)沖基金的基金優(yōu)于單一策略基金。對(duì)沖基金的基金通常投資于30至50只對(duì)沖基金﹐相關(guān)投資組合的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)通常比較均衡。"投資對(duì)沖基金的基金可提供多元化選擇﹐降低損失風(fēng)險(xiǎn)﹐"CitiGold駐新加坡的地區(qū)投資主管馬利克．薩沃爾(Malik Sarwar)說(shuō)。CitiGold是花旗銀行(Citibank NA)的消費(fèi)者銀行部門(mén)。
對(duì)有足夠膽量投資于單一基金的投資者來(lái)說(shuō)﹐一位顧問(wèn)建議﹐堅(jiān)持"多頭/空頭股票"策略。據(jù)Investec Asset Management Asia的董事總經(jīng)理史蒂沃特．阿爾德克羅夫特(Stewart Aldcroft)說(shuō)﹐多頭/空頭策略是投資者歡迎的策略﹐因?yàn)樗钜子诶斫猢s基金或是買(mǎi)進(jìn)股票﹐或是賣(mài)空股票。在賣(mài)空交易中﹐投資者借入證券﹐并期望將來(lái)以較低的價(jià)格買(mǎi)入同等數(shù)量的股票﹐藉此歸還原先所借的證券并獲得投資收益。