Retail1 Hedge-Fund Mkt Perking2 Up
HEDGE FUNDS are creeping into the investment mainstream3 in Asia as retail investors5 weary of several years of stock-market losses are increasingly attracted by the prospect6 of ending the year with more money than they started out with. Mutual7 funds may beat their benchmarks, but what fun is that when it means losing less than the index?
Mutual funds have never really caught on in this part of the world, but retail hedge funds just might given their possibility for world-beating returns, and despite that they offer a whole new category of major risk for the investor4.
And if hedge-fund companies are salivating to get going in Asia, it isn't hard to see why. Globally, hedge-fund assets have skyrocketed to US$600 billion in 2001 from US$45 billion in 1990, according to industry estimates. But Asian investors account for only around US$30 billion of those assets.
'We're seeing more interest in hedge funds because of the poor returns in the equity8 markets. Investors are tired of their fund outperforming a benchmark but still posting a loss,' says Ophelia Tong, investment director at HT Capital Management Ltd., a boutique hedge-fund firm that manages a US$25 million portfolio9.
The newest market for retail hedge-fund investors is Hong Kong, where regulators are scheduled to announce later this week how many funds have been authorized10 to sell to noninstitutional investors.
Singapore is set to release before the year's end revised guidelines for retail hedge funds, which include a S$20,000 minimum for funds of hedge funds and S$100,000 minimum for single-strategy funds.
Are well-to-do but not wealthy Asians ready to evaluate hedge funds properly? Unlike managers of traditional funds that make long-term investment decisions and stick by them, hedge-fund managers have the flexibility11 to adjust their portfolio to take advantage of new opportunities or discrepancies12 among markets or assets. It is precisely13 that flexibility that makes the fund manager the single biggest risk in investing in hedge funds.
It also makes investing in hedge funds as risky14 at times as investing in a single stock, which may make a hedge fund a poor substitute for the risk-averse investment in a mutual fund.
'Being able to analyze15 the quality of a single hedge fund is a highly complex and time-consuming process that a novice16 investor is not equipped to perform,' says Nicholas Chalmers, associate director of the Alternative Investment Group at Schroder Investment Management. Schroder has pending17 applications in Hong Kong for retail funds of hedge funds and single-strategy funds.
When it comes to choosing products, most advisers19 recommend funds of hedge funds over single-strategy funds. Funds of hedge funds usually invest in between 30 to 50 hedge funds and exposure to the underlying20 portfolios21 is usually equally weighted. 'Investing in funds of hedge funds offers persification22, which reduces the risk of losing your money,' says Malik Sarwar, Singapore-based regional director for investment at CitiGold, the consumer banking23 arm of Citibank NA.
For investors brave enough to go with a single fund, one adviser18 recommends sticking with 'long/short equity' strategy. According to Stewart Aldcroft, managing director at Investec Asset Management Asia, long-short is the most popular among investors because it is the easiest to understand: the fund either buys stocks, or else sells them short. In a short sale, an investor borrows securities and hopes to make a profit by buying an equal number of shares later at a lower price to replace the borrowed securities.
在亚洲﹐对冲基金正在悄悄进入投资主流﹐对股市连年下挫感到厌倦的散户投资者正愈加被对冲基金展示的前景所吸引﹐这一前景便是投资资金的年终水平将超越年初。一同基金的表现虽然可能强于股市基准指数﹐但假如这种相对强势仅仅意味着跌幅较小时﹐又有哪些意思呢﹖一同基金从未真的在亚洲获得时尚﹐但零售对冲基金风行一时仍大概﹐由于此类基金大概达成全球最好的回报率﹐尽管它们也为投资者带来了一种全新的高风险。
假如说对冲基金公司垂涎亚洲市场﹐其缘由也不难看出。据行业估算数字﹐2001年﹐全球对冲基金的资产从1990年的450亿USD暴涨至6,000亿USD。但亚洲投资者在这类资产中仅占300亿USD左右。
因为股市回报率很糟糕﹐大家看到（投资者）对对冲基金的兴趣愈加大。投资者再也不想看到基金表现虽然强于大盘﹐但依旧亏损的状况﹐HT Capital Management Ltd.的投资主管Ophelia Tong说。HT是一家小型对冲基金公司﹐管理着2,500万USD的投资组合。
对于零售对冲基金投资者来讲﹐香港是最新的市场。本周晚些时候﹐香港监管机构将宣布已获准向非机构投资者销售的对冲基金的数目。
新加坡将在年底前公布零售对冲基金指导修正案﹐其中对冲基金的基金最低投入额将降至2万新元（合1.13万USD）﹐单一方案基金的最低投入额将降至10万新元。亚太区域（尤其是日本和澳大利亚）的富有投资者﹐可通过银行或直接通过基金经理﹐投资对冲基金已有多年。
小康但不富有些亚洲人是不是已能适合地评估对冲基金﹖与传统基金经理拟定长期投资决策并进而贯彻的做法不同﹐对冲基金经理要有灵活性﹐可以对投资组合作出调整﹐以借助各种机会与不同市场或资产之间的价差。也正是这种灵活性﹐使得基金经理成了投资对冲基金时唯一的﹑也是最大的风险。
有时﹐这也使投资对冲基金与投资单一一只股票一样充满风险。因此﹐假如一同基金将对冲基金作为其避险投资的替代选择﹐或许会非常糟糕。
剖析单一对冲基金的水平是一个很复杂和耗时的过程﹐绝不是新投资者所能胜任﹐宝源投资管理公司旗下另类投资部门的副主管尼古拉斯．查尔墨斯说。在香港﹐宝源投资管理公司正在申请对冲基金的零售基金与单一方案基金。
说到投资选择﹐大多数顾问觉得﹐对冲基金的基金优于单一方案基金。对冲基金的基金一般投资于30至50只对冲基金﹐有关投资组合的风险一般比较均衡。投资对冲基金的基金可提供多样化选择﹐减少损失风险﹐CitiGold驻新加坡的区域投资主管马利克．萨沃尔说。CitiGold是花旗银行的买家银行部门。
对有足够胆量投资于单一基金的投资者来讲﹐一位顾问建议﹐坚持多头/空头股票方案。据Investec Asset Management Asia的董事总经理史蒂沃特．阿尔德克罗夫特说﹐多头/空头方案是最受投资者欢迎的方案﹐由于它最容易于理解﹕基金或是买进股票﹐或是卖空股票。在卖空买卖中﹐投资者借入证券﹐并期望以后以较低的价格买入同等数目的股票﹐藉此归还原先所借的证券并获得投资收益
