Last year was brutal for hedge funds. The industry posted its worst aggregate performance since the 2008 financial crisis, and nearly two-thirds of all hedge funds lost money in 2018. But a few funds finished the year with gains — an impressive feat given the market backdrop.
Several of these elite managers will be honored this year at Institutional Investor’s 17th annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards, which will celebrate firms that prevailed in the face of a variety of market challenges and volatility.
For example, Tiger Global Management — founded by Tiger Management alum Chase Coleman — gained 13.6 percent gain in its long-short fund Tiger Global, and 3.4 percent in Tiger Global Long Opportunities. Tiger Global has been nominated for Equity-Focused Hedge Fund Manager of the Year and Institutional Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital posted a 20 percent return last year, while Josh Resnick’s tech-focused Jericho Capital Partners fund gained 12.5 percent, earning each manager a nomination in the equity category. Rounding out the category are Darsana Capital Partners, Deerfield Management, and Falcon Edge Capital.
Several macro funds also shot the lights out last year, including Jeffrey Talpins’ Element Capital Management — up 17.3 percent — and Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which posted a 14.6 percent gain in its Pure Alpha strategy, its best performance in seven years. Both managers are among the six nominated for Macro Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
Citadel’s Wellington fund added 9.1 percent in its multistrategy fund. Citadel is nominated for Multistrategy Hedge Fund of the Year as well as Institutional Hedge Fund Manager of the Year. Two Sigma generated much better gains in its main funds than it did the previous year, earning it a nomination for both Quantitative Hedge Fund Manager of the Year and Institutional Hedge Fund Manager of the Year.
[II Deep Dive: Here Are the Winners of II’s 2018 Hedge Fund Awards]
The voting process for the Hedge Fund Awards begins with a public call for nominations; the Institutional Investor editorial staff concurrently devises a list of candidates based on its own knowledge of the firms and institutions, as well as discussions with its network of industry sources. All of the nominations, as well as the internally generated candidates, are then vetted based on how strongly the editorial team believes they meet a wide range of criteria for their respective categories.
After the nominees are publicly announced, Institutional Investor conducts a wide survey of U.S. allocators and invites them to vote for the manager nominees. The winners will be revealed at a gala dinner and ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental in New York on Thursday, June 27.
Institutional Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Bridgewater Associates
- Citadel
- Millennium Management
- Renaissance Technologies
- Tiger Global Management
- Two Sigma Investments
Emerging Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Darsana Capital Partners
- EcoR1 Capital
- Foxhaven Asset Management
- Riposte Capital
- Skye Global Management
- SQN Investors
Equity-Focused Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Cadian Capital Management
- Darsana Capital Partners
- Deerfield Management Co.
- Falcon Edge Capital
- Jericho Capital Asset Management
- Tiger Global Management
Credit-Focused Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund (Fortress Investment Group)
- Ellington Management Group
- Hildene Capital Management
- Mudrick Capital Management
- Selwood Asset Management
- Waterfall Asset Management
Multistrategy Hedge Fund of the Year
- Citadel
- D. E. Shaw & Co.
- Millennium Management
- Paloma Partners
- Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC
- Tilden Park Capital Management
Activist Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- P. Schoenfeld Asset Management
- P2 Capital Partners
- Starboard Value
- TCI Fund Management
- Trian Fund Management
- ValueAct Capital Management
Event-Driven Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- EJF Capital
- Elliott Management Corp.
- Omni Partners
- Starboard Value
- SVPGlobal
- Taconic Capital
Macro Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Autonomy Capital
- Brevan Howard Capital Management
- Bridgewater Associates
- Caxton Associates
- Element Capital Management
- Tudor Investment Corp.
Quantitative Hedge Fund Manager of the Year
- Campbell & Co.
- Paloma Partners
- PDT Partners
- QMS Capital Management
- Renaissance Technologies
- Two Sigma Investments
Liquid Alternative Fund of the Year
- BlackRock Tactical Opportunities Fund
- Calamos Market Neutral Income A
- Camelot Event-Driven Fund
- Catalyst/Millburn Hedge Strategy Fund
- BNY Mellon Global Real Return Fund
- GMO Special Opportunities Fund Class VI
