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There is always a bull market somewhere..
2004-02-04
Liquidity, transparency and diversification - our focus, at Access Capital Management, is to offer ?best of breed?, market-proven managers that deliver all of the above, so that our clients are comfortable regardless of the headlines. There is always a bull market somewhere, and the advantage of investing in a diversified portfolio of alternative managers is the ability to participate in superior risk-adjusted returns that are not correlated to stock and bond markets.
Let?s get to the numbers. The following are estimates for January (net of fees), together with 2003 results:
Trend Following Managed Futures
January est.
2003
Fall River Fund
+0.77%
+36.00%
Abraham Trading (Salem Futures Fund)
+0.50%
+74.65%
Aspect Diversified
na
+20.48%
Blackstar Fund
+1.48%
+26.00%*
Global/Macro
Vega Global
+0.65%
+12.64%
Vega Feeder (2X Global)
+1.18%
+24.82%
Vega Liquidity Fund
+0.76%
na
Vega Select
+2.90%
+35.08%
Vega Relative Value
+2.02%
+17.71%
Vega Diversified (25% per strategy)
+1.51%
+19.50%
Vega Diversified 2X
+2.88%
+40.50%
Taurus
na
+10.70%
Short Term Volatility
Conquest Macro
+1.67%
+0.19%
Fund of Funds
Pangea Alternative
+5.06%
+22.93%
We are pleased to announce that Michael Mann, President of Vega Asset Management, will be in Toronto the week of February 23rd. Vega won an unprecedented four EuroHedge 2003 awards, including Manager of the Year. Vega manages in excess of US$9 billion (the largest hedge fund manager outside of the U.S.) and continues to deliver outstanding risk-adjusted results. Notwithstanding its tremendous growth in assets, we feel that Vega is poised for another great year, as the instruments that Vega trades have plenty of capacity. We will get back to you with details of Michael?s visit.
Vega offers four distinct programs. Vega?s risk-averse Global Fund has been profitable in 77 of its 84 months in operation, including the last 37. Global?s portfolio of 200+ positions is focused in G10 fixed-income, currencies and equity indices. Vega?s Select Opportunities Fund is a concentrated, aggressive version of the Global Fund, typically invested in 5 to 15 ?ideas?. This Fund, which commenced trading in June 2000, has delivered an average annual net return of 27%, with low-teen volatility. Vega?s Relative Value Fund, EuroHedge?s fixed-income fund of the year in each of 2002 and 2003, is focused on non-directional G10 fixed-income strategies. This Fund has delivered an average annual net return of over 20%, with a lower than bond-like annualized volatility of 3.5%. Vega?s Liquidity Fund, launched in January 2004, is a ?hybrid? product responding to institutional demand for a highly liquid, ?money-market plus? alternative to short-term deposits and is designed to track (and outperform) short-term interest rates.
Fall River manages US$150M, with US$20M in the Fall River Fund. The Fund is designed to be continuously present in each of the 70 markets that it trades and does not attempt to predict the next big move, but rather minimizes losses while waiting for the next big move to occur. Charlie Wright, the Chairman of Fall River and graduate of Harvard?s MBA program (1977), has taught seminars and authored books on systems trading.
Abraham Trading's Salem Futures Fund, with a fifteen year audited track record, follows a systematic long-term trend following approach with the implementation of filtering techniques designed to improve the risk/reward profile of the trades. The Fund is globally diversified (51 markets) with a higher physical commodity weighting than many other managed futures funds, with a portfolio of approx. 60% commodity-based futures and approx. 40% financial-based futures.
Aspect Capital manages in excess of US$2.5B and boasts a solid 15 percent plus five-year track record. The Diversified program applies two systematic and complementary strategies (Momentum and Break-Out) over multiple timeframes to a portfolio of over 100 markets (31.5% capital markets, 33% commodities and 35.5% currencies/interest rates). Trading signals are generated over six distinct trading frequencies, allowing for the capture of short and long-term market trends more successfully than an individual system. Principals are former founders of AHL (now part of Man Group PLC), with a combined fifty years of quantitative trading experience.
Our short-term volatility program, Conquest Macro, has over US$400M under management, and employs a systematic strategy with an emphasis on capturing expansions in volatility via short-term trading in over 30 of the most liquid global markets (foreign exchange, fixed income, equity indices, energy, metal and commodities). Conquest?s unique strategy offers low correlation to the broader managed futures sector and has delivered an average net return of approximately 17% since its inception in May 1999.
Pangea Capital is a three-year old fund of funds program, currently managing approximately US$35M. Pangea is currently invested in 33 funds (10 that are closed) and earned a net 23% 2003 with a risk profile lower than that of a high-grade bond portfolio. Pangea?s maximum drawdown since inception was 3.52% and the annualized volatility is 5.28%. Pangea?s strategy is not concerned with predicting market direction, but rather, focuses on the exploitation of price discrepancies between related financial assets. A dynamic leverage strategy is employed to enhance returns, while keeping risk parameters within well-defined limits.
The Blackstar Fund is a multi-style, directional fund of funds, with an emphasis on managed futures. The Fund, which commenced trading in December 2003, is backed by Tom Basso (featured in The New Trading Wizards). Mr. Basso sits on Blackstar?s investment committee, and advises on the selection of managers and allocation of funds. Blackstar places great emphasis on risk management, using both qualitative and quantitative criteria to select managers that will provide value within the overall portfolio. On a pro-forma basis, Blackstar has earned an average net return in excess of 20%, with a maximum drawdown of 3.87%.
As always, kindly contact us for additional information on any of the funds.
Howard Lindzon John Cundari
602 315-8920 416 783-0663
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