The Steyn Capital Fund overcame strong competition to win HedgeNews Africa’s coveted Fund of the Year title 2010 at a gala awards dinner held at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town last night.
Steyn Capital also took home the prestigious award for the South African Equity category with a 33.63% return for 2010 and a Sharpe ratio of 5.65 – against a return of 16% from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the 12-month period.
This year’s other double winner was Blue Ink Investments, which won two awards in the fund of funds space. Its Blue Ink Fixed Income Arbitrage Fund emerged as the winner in the Fund of Funds category with a 24.23% return and a Sharpe ratio of 3.43, while the Blue Ink-ubator Diversified Fund took the award for the Long-Term Performance – Fund of Funds, judged over three years, with an annualised return of 13.74% and a Sharpe ratio of 1.25.
The annual awards, attended by the industry’s preeminent fund managers and investors, are based on monthly data compiled by HedgeNews Africa, the region’s leading independent publisher focused on the hedge fund and alternative asset management industries, and recognise the best risk-adjusted returns of funds in South Africa and the broader Africa region.
The awards are hosted in partnership with leading service providers to the industry, namely Investec Prime Broking, Nedbank Capital, RMB Prime Broking, Deutsche Bank and Peregrine Prime.
“The hedge fund industry has once again demonstrated its ability to protect capital and deliver healthy returns to investors,” said Gwyneth Roberts, editor of HedgeNews Africa. “Categories were closely contested with a great line-up of nominees, illustrating the depth of talent within the industry. With anticipated changes on the regulatory front, the industry is looking forward to receiving greater recognition as an important part of the asset management industry.”
The Nubuke Multi-Strategy Africa Fund was the winner in the Pan-Africa and Mena (Hedge) category with a 19.64% return on a Sharpe of 1.84.
In the Pan-Africa and Mena (Long/Absolute Return) category, the Kura Africa BMC Fund took the honours with an impressive 44.59% return in 2010 on a Sharpe ratio of 2.17.
The Laurium Capital Bell Rock Fund earned the Market Neutral and Quantitative award, with a return of 10.97% on a Sharpe of 1.8.
The Tantalum MNC Fund collected the Multi-Strategy award for its 17.22% return on a Sharpe of 2.82, while the Fairtree Fixed Income Fund took the prize in the Fixed Income category, with a gain of 29.52% return on a 6.24 Sharpe ratio.
In Specialist Strategies, Barak Structured Trade Finance Fund took the honours with a 16.48% return and a Sharpe ratio of 26.49.
The Long-Term Performance – Single Manager award, judged over three years, went to the KADD Capital Validus Fixed Income Fund, which achieved an annualised return of 27.45% on a Sharpe ratio of 2.07%
The Laurium Capital Zambezi Fund made a notable debut, returning 28.73% on a Sharpe ratio of 1.32 to take the New Fund of the Year title for 2010 in a year in which the Zimbabwean market was flat.