Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
from Global Investing:
Emerging stocks: when will there be gain after pain?
Emerging equities' amazing first quarter rally now seems a distant memory. In fact MSCI's main emerging markets index recently spent 11 straight weeks in the red, the longest lossmaking stretch in the history of the index. The reasons are clear -- the euro zone is in danger of breakup, growth is dire in the West and stuttering in the East. Weaker oil and metals prices are hitting commodity exporting countries.
But there may be grounds for optimism. According to this graphic from HSBC analyst John Lomax, sharp falls in emerging equity valuations have always in the past been followed by a robust market bounce.
What might swing things? First, the valuation. The 2008 crisis took emerging equity prices to an average of 8 times forward earnings for the MSCI index, down from almost 14 times before the Lehman crisis. The subsequent rebound from April 2009 saw the MSCI emerging index jump 90 percent. Emerging equities are not quite so cheap today, trading at around 9 times forward 12-month earnings but that is still well below developed peers and their own long-term average.
Lomax says:
Macro headwinds are strong but emerging markets are looking very cheap. On a price/earnings basis they are 15 percent below historical lows which guards against further falls. In the past, whenever you bought emerging markets at such levels, you made money.
Morning Line-up: Hedge funds & oil, commercial property, banker bonuses
News and views on the asset management industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
Hedge Funds ditch oil – Financial News
Insurers and pension funds poised to embrace REITS – Reuters
HSBC fund arm CEO is a Russia bull
Russia may be lagging other emerging markets, but the outlook for commodity prices suggests outperformance is not far off, John Flint, chief executive of HSBC Global Asset Management tells Insider.
Morning line-up: FSA, risk and wise owls
News and views on the fund industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
So who’s regulating the people who regulate the regulators’ pay – FT
Hedgies tiptoe away – Reuters
Foot off the gas – Bloomberg
SA hedge funds get in on the act – Business Day
Altman is a hoot – Reuters
Morning Line-Up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Some hedgies still feel effects of 2008 redemptions – Dow Jones
HSBC seeks to fill Lehman void as hedge fund broker – Bloomberg
What investors want from hedge funds now- Business Week
Embracing the activist
Activist investors have traditionally been kept at arm’s length by the mainstream fund houses. Fund managers at the major players haven’t felt able to align themselves with those agitating for change for fear their cosy chats with company chairmen might be compromised.
There are clear signs though that the mood has shifted.
Not only are institutions getting rapped over the knuckles for failing to apply active ownership principles, but the credit crisis has purged short-termist activists from the market, helping to soften the sector’s association with financial engineering and slash-n-burn tactics.
Proving their worth? HSBC’s Bill Maldonado talks market neutral funds
Bill Maldonado, head of alternative investments at HSBC’s Halbis unit, talks to Hedge Hub about how market neutral hedge funds have fared in 2008 and 2009.
Bright spots amid the gloom
The gloom in the hedge fund industry is well-documented but there are nevertheless bright spots.
The week so far brings news of 2 more fund launches.
HSBC has launched a global currency fund – technically a Ucits 3 fund rather than a hedge fund but employing the same tactics — trying to make money out of an asset class it sees as “untainted” by the credit crisis.
