Winning strategies

The new breed of systematic structured products offers investors a third way between long-only managers and hedge funds. As well as providing strategies similar to hedge funds, but with better transparency, liquidity and lower costs, the products could also help solve the hedge fund crisis by providing much-needed assets. Pierre Cooper reports

Many investors have been disappointed by the performance of mutual funds and alternative asset managers during the financial crisis. The liquidity problems experienced last year by the fund of funds industry and hedge fund managers have led money managers and institutional investors to cast around for a more liquid alternative.

Things were even worse in the long-only space. Mutual fund performance was dire as global stock markets plummeted and many funds missed the recent bounce. This has left