財經觀察 1880 --- Funds of hedge funds’ mojo is rising

Funds of hedge funds’ mojo is rising By Simon Osborne  |  26 March 2009   Funds of hedge funds are showing some razzle-dazzle in 2009 with several Asian specialists putting up sweet returns.

Funds of hedge funds are gussied up again in the spring of 2009. In both January and February, funds of hedge funds, as a group, beat the hedge fund index. They were down in February -- losing just 0.2% -- yet in 2008 they were behind the Eurekahedge hedge fund index every single month of the year. In March, in the absence of there being a pre-Easter sag, fund performance will presumably be boosted by a beta-fuelled binge, so performance in the two rollercoaster months of January and February probably say a lot about relative performance. The top fund of hedge funds during that two-month period was APAM Absolute Equity -- Australia Fund, which was up 4.04%. In second and third place were Persistent Edge China Partners Fund and Persistent Edge Asia Partners Fund, up 3.53% and 2.21% respectively. Just out of the medals were China Century Fund, which was up 1.26%, narrowly ahead of Hong Kong-based start-up specialists Adept Capital at 1.25%. The fund of hedge funds with the best Sharpe Ratio this year is Persistent Edge Asia Partners with 1.91, followed by APAM Absolute Equity, Vision Asia Maximus and Persistent Edge China, all falling in a range between 0.84 and 0.9. The same names feature at the top for the whole of the year of 2008. APAM Absolute Equity -- Asia Fund came first in 2008, followed by Persistent Edge at number two and number three for their Asia Partners and China Partners funds. In fourth was Vision with their Asia Evolution fund. Those are the only ones reporting positive returns for 2008, after which there is a long tailback in the red column. So it is not so much that these funds of hedge funds have regained their mojo, but, rather like Austin Powers in Goldmember, perhaps these particular funds never lost it in the first place.

Private equity investments up in Asia-Pacific By Rita Raagas De Ramos  |  26 March 2009   Asia-Pacific ex-Japan private equity investment triples to $9.5 billion at the end of 2008.

Asia-Pacific ex-Japan private equity investment tripled from $3.7 billion in the first half of 2008 to $9.5 billion by the end of the year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. China and India were on top of the pack with 318 and 267 deals, respectively. Together they accounted for $7.7 billion or 82% of the year's investments. South Korea followed with $639 million which was 7% of the total investments for the year. Australia had more deals than Korea at 109 to Korea's 23, but only had $511million in investments, or 5% of the total. The top industries that attracted investments were business services with 65 deals and a value of $854 million, next was manufacturing with only 18 deals but a value of $815 million. Alternative energy came in at sixth place with 23 deals and a value of $449 million. The smallest investments were seen in biotech equipment and scientific instrumentation with a couple of deals at just $1.3 million and $600,000, respectively. Last year's top private equity deal was a buyout/acquisition for Jeonju Paper in South Korea -- a deal valued at $787 million. The biggest venture capital deal was for Daye Nonferrous Metals in China with a disclosed round amount of $150 million. Hong Kong was the top fundraiser last year, with $14.7 billion accumulated in 21 funds. Thomson Reuters reported in the second quarter that Hong Kong had raised $9.3 billion from eight funds.