Hedge Fund Awards 2015

Hedge Fund Awards 2015 www.acquisition-intl.com 33 Best Global Diversified Multi-Strategy Fund of Hedge Funds - UK Headstart Advisers We spoke to Henry Watkinson, Director at Headstart Advisers Ltd, about the HeadStart Fund of Funds and its continuing success HeadStart Fund of Funds, managed by London-based Headstart Advisers Ltd, is a multi-strategy fund of funds, focused on capital preservation and delivering high risk-adjusted returns to its investors across market cycles. “Post-2008 asset-raising remains a significant challenge for small to mid-size hedge funds, mainly due to institutional investors approaching hedge fund investment in a very formalistic way,” says Henry Watkinson, Director. “Despite this we have managed to attract significant inflows in 2014. “More generally, recent economic data coming out of China and Europe, numerous geopolitical issues, QE in Europe, and oil prices have made markets particularly treacherous. We believe that in uncertain times like these our well-diversified portfolio approach with a focus on tight-nets is crucial for safeguarding investor’s capital. Equally, turbulent market conditions are likely to create exciting opportunities for hedge funds, and we will seek to capitalise on this where and when it is prudent to do so.” The strongest parts of HeadStart Fund of Funds, says Watkinson, are, quite simply, risk management and capital preservation. “The Fund’s philosophy is based on a focus on capital preservation and strong growth through effective risk management, with a focus on Alpha, uncorrelated returns, and a core/ satellite model of portfolio construction.” The main benefit of investing in funds of hedge funds, as opposed to hedge funds is reduced risk, Watkinson says. “Principally, risk is reduced through diversification across a range of underlying managers. Other advantages include access to closed funds, avoiding difficulties associated with high minimum investment amounts, and benefitting from the industry expertise of the fund of funds manager.” Headstart believes the optimal number of hedge funds to effectively benefit from diversification is 20-30 hedge funds, Watkinson says. “This provides sufficient diversification, but also allows us to know each of our managers intimately, as well as to monitor them very closely.” Asked about the Fund’s future, Watkinson says Headstart constructs its portfolio with a long-term view. “Key to our investment approach is a core holding/satellite holding model to our portfolio construction. We will continue to pursue short and medium term opportunities through satellite positions, whilst remaining in our core positions which have historically performed well across market cycles.” A best-in-class fund The HeadStart Fund of Funds has been named Best Global Diversified Multi-Strat- egy Fund of Hedge Funds – UK in the Hedge Fund Awards. “It is an honour to be recognised for the hard work we do on behalf of our investors,” says Watkinson. “We have always strived to deliver the best risk-adjusted returns possible for our investors and have consistently delivered risk-adjusted returns in excess of hedge fund and traditional asset class indices. We believe that our core/ satellite approach enables us to successfully navigate market cycles preserving capital, but also to capitalise on short and mid-term market trends. The tight-knit investment team and entrepreneurial nature of the Fund enables us to react quickly to changes in the market further delivering value to our investors. “It is great to be acknowledged for our work and we hope that it reinforces our investors’ trust in us. More generally, awards are an excellent way for investors to judge the quality of a fund by acknowledgement from a credible third-party. This is particularly true for those investors without the expertise or means to effectively to evaluate prospective hedge funds themselves.” n Name: Henry Watkinson Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.headstartadvisers.com Address: Headstart Advisers Ltd., 1 Knightsbridge Green, London, SW1X 7QA Telephone: 0207 376 54 37 Fact File Best Global Diversified Multi-Strategy Fund of Hedge Funds - UK