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Awards 2012

Peregrine Capital takes triple honours at 2012 Awards

Peregrine Capital took triple honours at the HedgeNews Africa Awards, including the prestigious Fund of the Year award, at a gala dinner held at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town last night.

Peregrine Capital’s long-running long/short equity fund, Peregrine Capital High Growth, won the award for best South African equity fund for 12-month performance in 2012 – as well as the overall Fund of the Year accolade. The fund returned an impressive 37.31% with a Sharpe ratio of 6.71, outperforming the 26% total return of the South African equities market, but with far lower volatility.

The company also secured the honours in the Market Neutral and Quantitative category, with Peregrine Capital Pure Hedge gaining 17.45% on a Sharpe of 5.27, a convincing return despite the fact that bullish equity market made conditions tough for funds in the category.

Attended by the industry’s preeminent fund managers and investors, the annual awards are based on independently audited 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 Equities, Nedbank Capital, RMB Prime Broking, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank and Peregrine Securities.

“The hedge fund industry has once again demonstrated its ability to deliver attractive returns to investors while protecting against downside risks and offering uncorrelated sources of alpha, which have an important role to play in broader portfolios,” said Gwyneth Roberts, editor of HedgeNews Africa. “From both a domestic and international perspective, these funds are a compelling offering.“

Elsewhere in an impressive line-up of winners, the Cadiz ZAR Opportunities Fund took the honours amongst South African Multi-Strategy funds, gaining 14.57% on a Sharpe of 4.34, while the Momentum Proton Fund won the South African Fixed Income category with a return of 14.03% on a 5.95 Sharpe.

Polar Star Agricultural Commodities Fund emerged as the winner in the Specialist Strategies category, gaining 23.22% on a Sharpe of 1.25.

Amongst Fund of Funds, the Novare Mayibentsha Moderate Fund of Funds was the victor, with a gain of 13.72% on a Sharpe of 7.68.

In the long-term categories, judged over three years, the AcuityOne Hedge Fund took home the trophy for single managers while 27four Alternative Long Short Equity won the Fund of Funds category.

The X-Chequer Flexible Long/Short Fund was named New Fund of the Year.

Amongst African portfolios, the Kura Africa Fund took the Best Pan-Africa and MENA (Hedge) Fund title, with a return of 35.36% and a Sharpe of 1.89, while Steyn Capital Africa Fund walked away with best Pan-Africa and MENA (Long/Absolute Return) title, gaining 44.49% on a 4.31 Sharpe.

 

Awards Methodology

As in previous years, the awards are based on net monthly returns for the 12-month period as well as Sharpe ratio, seeking to measure the best risk-adjusted returns in each category.

In order to qualify for a nomination, funds must have a minimum of $10 million under management. Exceptions are the new fund category, which allows for lower assets under management, and the long-term awards, for which funds must have a minimum of US$20 million under management.

Nominations are based on quantitative factors, with the award ultimately going to the fund with the highest return for the period, provided its Sharpe ratio is within 25% of the top Sharpe of nominees in the category (Sharpe ratios of funds whose returns are below the median return for the category are excluded). Exceptions are made in the case of categories that combine different strategy areas, where some qualitative criteria may need to be applied.
•    Provisional nominations will be announced in November.
•    Final nominations will be announced in January.

Funds submitting their monthly returns to our database are automatically considered for the awards.

New funds can submit data to data@hedgenewsafrica.com