South Africa’s top hedge funds were recognised for their outstanding achievements in 2015 at a gala dinner hosted by HedgeNews Africa in Cape Town last night.
The Capricorn Performer Fund was the winner of the prestigious Fund of the Year trophy and the All Weather Performance Fund was recognised as the Best Long/Short Fund, the industry’s biggest category.
Capricorn Performer was commended for its outstanding risk-adjusted return in the 2015 calendar year, delivering a net gain of 38.14% on a Sharpe ratio of 3.7 compared with a 5.1% return from the Johannesburg All Share TRI Index over the same period.
It was the second trophy for Capricorn Fund Managers, which also won the award for Best Market-Neutral and Quantitative Fund, outperforming its peers with a strong return of 34.69% and a Sharpe ratio of 3.69.
All Weather Capital delivered a return of 26.39% on an outstanding Sharpe ratio of 9.23, beating its competitors in the highly contested long/short category, which is the biggest in the South African industry both by assets and number of funds. The fund is managed by Johannesburg-based All Weather Capital, one of the country’s few black-owned hedge fund firms.
In the Multi-Strategy category, the Prosperitas Fund was the victor, with a net return of 20.7% and a Sharpe of 3.71, while the Abax Fixed Interest Fund took the honours in its category with a 9.49% net gain and 2.27 Sharpe ratio, in a year in which South Africa’s All Bond Index declined 3.9%.
In the Specialist Strategies category, the Catalyst Alpha en Commandite Partnership, a long/short real estate focused fund, emerged victorious, with a 28.7% gain and 2.7 Sharpe ratio.
Amongst new funds, judged over 12 months for funds with a track record of between 12 and 23 months, the award went to the Tower Aggressive Fund, with a stellar return of 46.91% and Sharpe ratio of 1.5.
The awards also include multi-manager or fund of hedge fund portfolios. THINK.CAPITAL Growth Fund was the best performer over 12 months in the multi-strategy category, with a 21.96% gain on a Sharpe of 4.44, while the TriAlpha Enhanced Fixed Income Hedge Fund won the prize in the fixed income category, gaining a net 6.08% on a 0.16 Sharpe.
Africa-focused portfolios had a tough year, yet there were funds in the HedgeNews Africa database that significantly outperformed their peers and the broader Africa markets. In a year in which the MSCI Emerging Frontier Markets Africa ex-SA Index lost 19.52% and the S&P All Africa ex-SA Index fell by -27.29%, the Pan Africa and MENA Hedge Award went to the SSCG Africa Opportunities Master Fund, which added a net 10.12% in US dollar terms with a Sharpe ratio of 0.6. In the Africa long/only and absolute return category, the Laurium Limpopo African Equity Fund was the top fund, preserving capital with a -11.94% return in dollar terms and -1.03 Sharpe.
The Awards also recognise performance over three and five years. Laurium Capital took its second award for the night in the Three-Year Single-Manager category, with the Laurium Aggressive Long Short Fund returning a net annualised 35.88% on a Sharpe of 3.11.
Over five years, the Peregrine High Growth Fund took the honours with an annualised return of 27.75% on a Sharpe of 3.37%.
Amongst fund of hedge funds, the winner of the three-year award was the Rosebank Wealth Group Long/Short Hedged Equity Fund, which gained an annualised 17.76% with a Sharpe of 1.94.
The Old Mutual Multi Managers Long Short Equity Fund of Hedge Funds was judged best fund of funds over five years with an annualised return of 16.06% and Sharpe of 2.42.
Now in their seventh year, the awards recognise the best risk-adjusted returns of funds in South Africa and the broader Africa region each calendar year, based on an established methodology and independently verified data submitted to the HedgeNews Africa database, the region’s leading independent publisher focused on the hedge fund and alternative asset management industries.
“Markets have been particularly challenging both in 2015 and into 2016, with the nominees and eventual winners of these awards showing the ability to adapt in difficult markets to protect capital and generate gains for their investors,” said Gwyneth Roberts, editor of HedgeNews Africa. “This is an industry that is proving responsive to change, both when it comes to market conditions and also to the evolving needs of investors and regulators.”
Attended by the industry’s leading fund managers and investors, the annual awards are hosted in partnership with top service providers to the industry, namely Investec, RMB, Absa Capital, Deutsche Bank, and Peregrine.
Final nominations
Long/Short Equity
All Weather Performance Fund
Capricorn Performer Fund
Fairtree Assegai Long Short Equity Fund
Peregrine High Growth Fund
Steyn Capital SA Large Cap Fund
Tower Aggressive Fund
Winner: All Weather Performance Fund
Market Neutral and Quantitative
Capricorn Market Neutral Fund
Mazi Capital Market Neutral Fund
Old Mutual Managed Alpha Hedge Fund
Peregrine Pure Hedge Fund
Winner: Capricorn Market Neutral Fund
Multi-Strategy
Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund
Obsidian Xebec Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund
Prosperitas Fund
Winner: Prosperitas Fund
Fixed Income
Abax Fixed Interest Fund
Fairtree Proton Fund
Sanlam Fixed Income Arbitrage Fund
Winner: Abax Fixed Interest Fund
Specialist Strategies
Alternative Real Estate Select Opportunity Fund
Catalyst Alpha En Commandite Partnership
Polar Star Fund
Westbrooke Capital Management Special Opportunities Fund
Winner: Catalyst Alpha En Commandite Partnership
Pan-Africa and MENA (Long/absolute return)
Imara African Opportunities Fund
Laurium Limpopo African Equity Fund
Old Mutual African Frontiers Fund
Winner: Laurium Limpopo African Equity Fund
Pan-Africa and MENA (Hedge)
Laurium Chobe Sub-Saharan Long Short Fund
SSCG Africa Opportunities Master Fund
Winner: SSCG Africa Opportunities Master Fund
Fund of Hedge Funds (Multi-Strategy)
Rosebank Wealth Group Long/Short Hedged Equity Fund
Rosebank Wealth Group Low Volatility Equity Hedge Fund
Sygnia All Star FoHF
THINK.CAPITAL Growth Fund
Winner: THINK.CAPITAL Growth Fund
Fund of Hedge Funds (Fixed Income)
Edge Iconic Picador Fixed Income Fund
TriAlpha Enhanced Fixed Income Hedge Fund
Winner: TriAlpha Enhanced Fixed Income Hedge Fund
Three-Year Performance (Single-Manager)
Capricorn Performer Fund
Laurium Aggressive Long Short Fund
Peregrine High Growth Fund
Polar Star Fund
Winner: Laurium Aggressive Long Short Fund
Three-Year Performance (Fund of Hedge Funds)
Blue Ink Commodity Arbitrage Fund
Edge Iconic Portable Alpha Fund
Old Mutual Multi-Managers Long Short Equity FoHF
Rosebank Wealth Group Long/Short Hedged Equity Fund
Winner: Rosebank Wealth Group Long/Short Hedged Equity Fund
Five-Year Performance (Single-Manager)
Alternative Real Estate Select Opportunity Fund
Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund
Peregrine High Growth Fund
Polar Star Fund
Winner: Peregrine High Growth Fund
Five-Year Performance (Fund of Hedge Funds)
Edge Iconic Torero Long/Short Fund
Old Mutual Multi-Managers Long Short Equity FoHF
Sygnia All Star FoHF
Winner: Old Mutual Multi-Managers Long Short Equity FoHF
New Fund of the Year
All Weather Performance Fund
Emperor Asset Management Long/Short Hedge Fund
Peregrine Dynamic Alpha Fund
Tower Aggressive Fund
Winner: Tower Aggressive Fund
Fund of the Year
Capricorn Market Neutral Fund
Capricorn Performer Fund
Fairtree Assegai Long Short Equity Fund
Peregrine High Growth Fund
Prosperitas Fund
Steyn Capital SA Large Cap Fund
Winner: Capricorn Performer Fund
Awards Methodology
To qualify for a nomination funds must average a minimum of $10 million, or R80 million, in assets under management throughout the calendar year. Exceptions are made in the new fund category, which allows for lower AUM and considers funds with a track record of 12-23 months (with the award based on calendar-year returns) and the long-term awards, for which higher minimums apply.
Nominations are based on an established quantitative methodology in an effort to judge the best risk-adjusted returns, with the award ultimately going to the fund with the highest return provided its Sharpe ratio is within 25% of the top Sharpe among the nominees in each category.
Exceptions are made in the case of categories that combine different strategy areas, where other quantitative criteria may need to be applied.
Provisional nominations will be announced in the November online edition of HedgeNews Africa, with final nominations being 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 before the end of November.
Data used in deciding the awards will once again be independently examined by eComply Consultants.