European FoHFs celebrate outstanding performance again

Despite a challenging environment for European funds of hedge funds, many have bucked the trend. The 13th European FoHF Awards 2014 recognised the achievements of a wide range of asset managers

The best of Europe's fund of hedge funds (FoHF) community was recognised at the 13th Annual European FoHF Awards 2014.

Winners were announced at a gala black-tie dinner in London. The accolades recognise the best-performing European FoHFs as well as honouring qualitative attributes of funds.

2014 again saw the FoHF industry increasingly tested amid fresh concerns surrounding global growth and geopolitical troubles. FoHF managers represented a lower proportion of searches initiated in Q2 (48%) than in Q1 (66%) as a result of increased activity from other institutional investors, according to research and consultancy firm Preqin.

But the managers rewarded on the evening were ahead of their peers, not only preserving investor capital, also achieving returns. The industry continues to innovate through the adoption of new vehicles, improvements in existing ones and development of managed account platforms and seeding vehicles.

The recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement award was Kevin Gundle, chief executive of Aurum Funds, a FoHF business that began life two decades ago this year and has gone on to become distinguished for its disciplined investment process using proprietary software and computer systems.

Gundle is also heavily involved in charity work through the vehicle Absolute Returns for Kids (Ark) which has seen more than 430,000 children benefit from its programmes. Ark has raised more than £180 million, and a further £460 million has been leveraged from government and partners.

Hedge Funds Review's award for outstanding contribution to the fund of funds industry went to Fabio Bariletti, general manager of Kairos Group, which also won the trophy for FoHF of the Year.

Bariletti has been at the forefront of innovation within the industry, having been the manager of the first Italian FoHF and spearheading the launch of the first fund of Ucits hedge funds in 2009 in Europe.

This year's judging panel, chaired by Hedge Funds Review editor Luke Clancy, comprised of Tushar Patel, chief investment officer and managing director at Hedge Fund Investment Management; Neil Campbell, head of alternative investments at Tullett Prebon; Stuart MacDonald, managing director at Aquila Capital; Alison Clark, head of hedge fund research at Hymans Robertson; Michael Regy, global head of third-party hedge fund research at Merrill Lynch; Robert Mullane, managing director in the alternative investment and manager selection group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management; and Margie Lindsay, former editor of Hedge Funds Review.

In selecting the winners, the judges took into account the quantitative analysis as well as their qualitative experience and expertise. Where judges were conflicted in an award category, they stood aside from judging. The winners of the qualitative awards were selected at the discretion of the judges, based on detailed written submissions that allowed like-for-like comparisons.

The winners were selected based on a rigorous methodology that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. The process started by running a quantitative screen over all FoHFs entering the performance awards. Funds were ranked based on returns, Sharpe and Sortino ratios and downside deviation. An independent panel of judges reviewed all the risk and return metrics on the top ranked funds and selected the winners.

In addition to voluntary entries, HFIM prepared the quantitative analysis from the performance data.

Around 250 people attended the awards ceremony held at the Park Lane Hotel in central London.

Selected winners will be highlighted in a special app edition of Hedge Funds Review. Profiles and videos of many winners will be available online in December.

A full list of the winners in 2014 follows.

One-year FoHF awards

Best distressed securities FoHF
PAF - Pleiad Credit Opportunities (Pictet Alternative Advisors)

Best emerging markets FoHF
Discovery Capital Holdings (Edmond de Rothschild Capital Holdings)

Best fixed income FoHF
Areca SICAV SIF - Value Discovery Fund (Ayaltis)

Best global macro FoHF
Mosaic Trading (Pictet Alternative Advisors)

Best managed futures/CTA FoHF
LGT Crown Managed Futures - SubFund Class A (USD) (LGT Capital Partners)

Best Ucits-compliant FoHF
Aberdeen Global - Flexible Equity Fund (Aberdeen Asset Management)

Best long/short equity FoHF
PAF - World Equity Hedge (Pictet Alternative Advisors)

Best diversified FoHF under $500m
PCAM Blue Chip Ltd (Prime Capital)

Best diversified FoHF over $500m
Kairos Multi-Strategy (Kairos Investment Management)

Best sub-$100m FoHF
Stenham Healthcare Fund (Stenham Asset Management)

Best $100-$250m FoHF
Pioneer Restructuring Fund (Pioneer Investment Management)

Hedge Funds Review FoHF of the Year 2014
Kairos Multi-Strategy (Kairos Investment Management)

Long-term FoHF awards

Best specialist FoHF over three years
HSBC Special Opportunities Fund (HSBC Alternative Investments)

Best specialist FoHF over 10 years
ACL Alternative Fund Share Class A (Abbey Capital)

Best diversified FoHF over three years
PCAM Blue Chip Ltd (Prime Capital)

Best diversified FoHF over 10 years
Culross Global Fund (Culross Global Management)

Platform awards

Best managed account platform
Amundi Absolute Return Managed Account Platform (Amundi Alternative Investments)

Best Ucits platform
Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions (Merrill Lynch International)

Service Provider Rankings

Voted for by readers of Hedge Funds Review

Most favoured managed account platform provider - from hedge fund viewpoint
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management

Most favoured Ucits platform provider - from hedge fund viewpoint
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management

Most favoured law firm - onshore (Europe)
Simmons & Simmons

Most favoured accounting/auditing Firm (Europe)
PwC

Most favoured hedge fund index provider
HFR

Most favoured domicile (Europe)
Malta

Most favoured fund administrator for FoHFs
Apex Fund Services

Qualitative awards

Best new FoHF
Skënderbeg Fund (Skënderbeg Alternative Investments)

Most innovative FoHF
Aggregator (Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management)

Best investor relations team
Lyxor Asset Management

Best advisory team
GAM

Best bespoke FoHF provider
Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Best HNWI/private client FoHF provider
HSBC Alternative Investments

Best institutional FoHF provider
Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Best overall group
Amundi Alternative Investments

Outstanding contribution to the FoHF industry
Fabio Bariletti, Kairos Group

Lifetime achievement award
Kevin Gundle, Aurum Funds