Strategy
A new era
What impact will the proposed changes to Germany's tax and investment laws have on hedge fund administrators?
Satisfaction guaranteed?
There is no need to feel blinded by science when buying a product with a guarantee. The answer lies in asking the right questions
Going for gold
Pioneer Alternative Investments aims to double its assets by 2005 at the same time as investing heavily in its operational infrastructure
The next frontier
Institutional investors have largely baulked at buying into hedge funds, but research suggests a 10% to 20% allocation is appropriate
Rate cuts in Canada cause unexpected trend reversals
Range bound euro and falling Canadian dollar cause hard month for forex
Not all American managers are wearing rose-tinted spectacles
Opinions are split on the US outlook, and how to set portfolios
Arbitrage bites back
Managers expect growing performance from various arbitrage strategies
Total eclipse
A pure credit approach to Threadneedle's Crescendo Credit Fund means its returns are running to schedule
Information exploitation
The managers of Griffin Capital Management's Eastern European Value fund developed a program to make the most of their research database, resulting in 140% returns since its 1997 launch
Dividends play a crucial role
Hedge fund managers who have not kept a check on dividend levels, have missed large portions of markets' total returns
Gartmore sets its business plan in action with credit hedge fund
New credit fund has greater capacity than previous funds
Commercial risk prohibits managers revealing shorts
regulators must accept lower transparency on short side
Making waves
With returns of 88.74% since inception, IAM's Alternative Investment Strategies fund of hedge funds is keeping its investors happy
Credit where credit's due
In an industry filled with salespeople and marketers, hedge fund investors are increasingly turning to independent fund ratings agencies to differentiate between products.
Uses and abuses
Derivatives can come in handy for more than just a liquidity stream in tough times
Keeping up with demand
Gartmore is lining up a series of launches and considering distributing third party products
Embracing change
Hybrid funds that invest across a broad range of different assets are growing, along with the need for fixed income prime broking teams
Macro finds favour
Merger arbitrage is proving popular while European long/short's outlook is poor
Fundamentals adopted by tech after sentiment rally
Specialist equity funds are being launched to target sophisticated investors
Evolving credit
The flexibility of credit default swaps makes them an invaluable tool for arbitrage, speculation or hedging products