Funds of hedge fund specialist Stenham Asset Management has opened its Trading Fund to new investment for the first time in five years and created new sterling, euro and Swiss franc share classes for investors.
Stenham said it was able to open the fund because many of the global macro funds in which it invests and had also been closed, were now seeking new capital due to the high levels of opportunity in the market.
Harry Wulfsohn, Stenham director and head of institutional business development, said: “The significant withdrawal of capital from the industry has left a sector with fewer participants and a much higher concentration of the brightest investment talent looking to capitalise on market dislocations which are easier to identify and less crowded to trade.
"Many of the world’s best global macro managers with outstanding and long track records have been closed for years. This has now changed and we are able to open Stenham Trading for the first time in over five years."
Currency diversification
The fund manager said the addition of the currency options to the existing US dollar share class was made in response to investor demand, with many wanting to diversify their dollar exposure.
According to Stenham, the Trading strategy, launched in 1993, had delivered a compound return of 9.86% over the decade ending April 30th 2009.
The fund, which has monthly dealing, no lock in period and a minimum investment of US$100,000 or currency equivalent, is a global macro fund of hedge funds, typically with around 12 underlying managers. Its target return is Libor plus 6%, which Stenham said it had surpassed over the past 10 years with annual volatility of 6%.
Kevin Arenson, chief investment officer for Stenham, said: “Our experience over the last 20 years has shown that in the immediate period after a crisis, good hedge funds have delivered exceptional returns. Given the extent of this crisis we believe that certain more liquid strategies will deliver excellent returns and because of the size of the opportunities, deliver these returns with less risk. We are confident that global macro managers of the calibre included in Stenham Trading are best positioned to capitalise on this environment.”
