Another data tracker reports that June was brutal for commodity trading advisors. The Newedge CTA Index fell 4.20 percent for the month of June, according to index operator Societe Generale Prime Services, wiping out earlier gains and bringing the index down 2.28 percent for the first half of the year. “During June there were clearly two forces at work: We saw positive returns from the bond and currency sectors offset by negative contributions from commodity and equity indices,” said James Skeggs, global head of alternative investments consulting at Societe Generale Prime Services, in a statement.
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On the other hand, Lyxor Asset Management reports that CTAs are starting the third quarter on strong footing, with CTA strategies returning 1.7 percent for the previous week, according to the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index. The gains came partly from short positions in energy and long positions in fixed income instruments. Interestingly, discretionary macro managers also did well last week, gaining 1.1 percent, thanks to their FX and fixed income positions. Lyxor reports that in aggregate, hedge funds have low exposure to Greece, and only one-third of its managers have direct exposure to China. Half of those that do invest in China have exposures of between 0 and 5 percent of their net assets.
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Hedge fund industry veteran Robert Discolo has joined fund-of-funds manager Permal Group as executive vice president of investments. Discolo spent 14 years at investment firm PineBridge Investments, formerly owned by insurance giant AIG, and he most recently served as head of hedge funds for the firm. Discolo started at Permal on July 1 and is based in the firm’s New York office. Permal manages approximately $21 billion. It is owned by asset management conglomerate Legg Mason.
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Tiger Global Management recently participated in a Series C fundraising round for Saavn, a New York-based music-streaming site for Bollywood, Indian and other international entertainment content, according to CrunchBase.com. The company raised $100 million from Tiger Global and six other investors on July 7. New York-based Tiger Global, founded by Charles (Chase) Coleman III, invests in venture capital and private equity opportunities and also manages hedge funds.
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The SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index, which tracks asset flows in and out of hedge funds, has fallen by 2.71 percent so far in July. That’s slightly higher than the year-ago period, when assets declined by 2 percent. SS&C GlobeOp chairman and CEO Bill Stone said in a statement that while hedge funds typically report outflows in July, the increase this year probably reflects global economic uncertainty over Greece and China. Still, the change in net outflows was driven by a decrease in new investments, rather than an increase in redemptions, which suggests investors are maintaining their positions despite the uncertainty, Stone added. SS&C GlobeOp’s data represents approximately 10 percent of the hedge fund industry. SS&C GlobeOp is a hedge fund administrator that also operates the SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index, which fell 0.65 percent in June.
