National Alternative Investment Management Association (NAIMA) partnered with Moscow Hedge Fund Managers Club (MHFMC) to organize the first and only awards ceremony celebrating the excellence and achievements of Russian hedge funds.
The awards identify the best performing hedge funds with at least one year of independently verified track record, advised by investment teams with Russian background regardless of the geographical focus of the funds.
All winners were selected based on quantitative data for the year 2014 collected and analyzed by National Alternative Investment Management Association (NAIMA).
Awards categories included: Best Equity Fund (Global), Best Derivatives Fund (Global), Best Multi-Asset Fund (Global), Best Equity Fund (Russia), Best Derivatives Fund (Russia), Best Multi-Asset Fund (Russia), Best Fixed-Income Fund, Best Hedge Fund Firm and Best Risk-Adjusted Return. Separate nominations also recognized the most popular service providers.
Prior to the awards ceremony, the Chairman of NAIMA’s Hedge Fund Committee, Michael Boboshko, presented his exclusive research report covering current state and trends in the Russian hedge fund industry.
According to the report:
- There are over 80 hedge funds managed/advised by Russian teams
- Almost 70% of the funds have less than $50mln AUM while just over 20% manage more than $100mln
- Just over 50% of Russian funds have less than five years of track record
- Almost 70% of Russian funds focus on trading in local markets, while the rest trade in global markets including other emerging regions
The insight that the nomination research revealed is that today’s Russian hedge fund industry is no longer dominated by long-only players. Most of the winners of best performing fund categories across different strategies demonstrated double digit net returns in 2014, one of the worst years in the history of Russian stock market.
Most investors still think that allocation to Russian hedge fund is purely a long exposure to the Russian market. But this is not the case anymore. The proportion of Russian funds trading globally is trending up. And many of those who are still focused on local market no longer resemble long-bias profile. Systematic trading and strategies that take advantage of high volatility are popular among new Russian hedge funds.
In Russia we meet a lot of young, bright and competitive traders with outstanding quantitative skills and worthwhile investment ideas. So from an investor perspective, we suggest to look at the Russian market as a source of emerging investment talents who just need some guidance to run a business of hedge fund as per global standards.
The first Russian Hedge Fund Industry Awards 2015 ceremony was a closed door event exclusively for hedge fund advisors, investors and service providers. But the organizers are confident that as the tradition is established the scale of the event will be growing along with local hedge fund industry.