Hedge Fund Awards 2015

Hedge Fund Awards 2015 www.acquisition-intl.com 61 Best Singapore Hedge Fund & Best Family Office Advisory Firm - Singapore Web: www.azathenaeum.com Fact File Best for Asian Fixed Income Bonds Address: Stratton Street Capital LLP 200 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4HD Web: www.strattonstreet.com Fact File Established Singapore investment management company, Athenae- um Limited, aims to build and preserve wealth in a risk-adjusted manner. Madeleine Lee, CFA, Managing Director and Chief Invest- ment Officer, tells us more. Athenaeum Limited is an established Singapore investment man- agement company that has been advising endowments, family offices, foundations and high-net-worth individuals since 1999. The firm manages and advises Asian focused funds as well as discretionary portfolios. The Athenaeum Asian Equities Fund, one of the firm’s two equities funds, is an active equity fund with a long biased approach. It is a high conviction, bottom up portfolio of 20-25 stock names with a thematic approach to stock screening. “Our objective is to build and preserve wealth in a risk-adjusted manner,” says Madeleine Lee, CFA, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer. “Beating the market index is one thing, but we believe an absolute return is a good deal better for your pocket.” The firm has two key strengths, says Lee, the first being its joint venture partnership with the Azimut Group in Italy, which allows it to develop an internal sales structure that can service institutional and high net worth individual investors in Asia. “Second is the strength and experience of the Asian investment team. The team has unparalleled Asian experience with more than 80 years of combined investment management experience in the region.” Cur- rently, Athenaeum is in the process of broadening its investment products to its various clients. “Together with our team’s 80 years of combined investment management experience in Asia, and backed by Azimut Group, we provide clients with a unique range of exclusive offerings from both Asia and Europe,” she says. The hedge fund industry is constantly evolving, says Lee. “The industry has gone through various changes over the course of time, from active management via relative benchmark returns, to benchmark returns via ETFs to absolute returns via the different hedge fund products offered.” The Asian hedge fund industry has experienced significant growth in the last ten years, she says, with a tripling in the number of funds from 259 to 768 between 2002 and 2013, while assets under management increased seven fold in the same period. “The Asia-focused hedge funds have traditionally had a shorter history than that of their North American peers,” she continues. “The industry comprises relatively younger funds and surviving beyond the 5-year mark tends to be a challenge for a larger pro- portion of such Asian-focused funds. The key challenge facing the industry is growing the asset size under management, says Lee. “It is also one of the key reasons for the closure of funds. The Asian hedge fund industry is populated by small funds with only a few large firms managing assets above US$500m.” n The Stratton Street Renminbi Bond Fund was the first ever offshore ren- minbi Bond Fund, launched in November 2007. The firm told us more about the fund and how it is enabling investors to gain exposure to the dynamic growth of the Chinese economy Stratton Street are hugely honoured to be named the Best Asian Fixed Income Bond Fund for our ‘Renminbi Bond Fund’. We pride our- selves on providing innovative and forward thinking strategies aimed at capturing growth potential within credit markets (focussed mainly within Emerging Markets).The Fund reached its 7 year anniversary in November 2014 and we are extremely pleased to be the leading fund in this space. The Stratton Street Renminbi Bond Fund (“RBF”) was the first ever offshore renminbi Bond Fund, launched in November 2007. The strategy is designed to provide a relatively high income while also ena- bling investors to gain exposure to the dynamic growth of the Chinese economy through bonds and currency investments. The Fund has an excellent seven year track record including positive returns during the financial collapse of 2008. The RmB remains undervalued, and Stratton Street believes it will continue to strengthen as China opens up further to international investment, and the renminbi becomes a reserve currency over the longer term. China, and Asia more broadly, are becoming a dominant force in the global economy. Our business is solely dedicated to providing innovative investment solutions for professional clients within the bond space. Our approach can be described as contrarian as we tend to veer away from indexation (we believe benchmark construction within bond markets is highly inefficient). Today’s investors are still searching for income opportunities; however many ‘developed’ countries’ real yields are extremely low or negative. Our process enables us to seek out under- valued opportunities (again focussed on the investment grade space), offering a relatively high income and returns. We have a number of proprietary tools that enables us to filter out expensive looking credits and focus our analysis purely on those opportunities that offer value. The asset management industry today faces many headwinds; be it from either a regulatory or investment perspective. Years of debt accu- mulation from many of the largest developed economies of the world have heightened risks across the globe – the days of vast liquidity and easy money are behind us. Investors expect managers to be able to successfully navigate these markets, avoiding the pitfalls that led to the largest financial crisis in a generation. In order to do so, managers need to ‘think outside the box’ and look at opportunities beyond the traditional bond investment space. We believe there are a number of very attractive opportunities across both Asia and the Middle East, where many of the wealthiest nations reside. As an investment manager, Stratton is fully aware of our social respon- sibilities. That is why we partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) to offer investors both social and financial returns on capital. Under the Feed the Future initiative, Stratton Street donates to WFP management fees generated from investments into its Renminbi Bond Fund. Stratton Street regards this donation as an investment in Asia’s future – the children of Asia. Launched in 2010, the Feed the Future initiative has already generat- ed sufficient income, on an annual basis, to feed over 5,000 children every day whilst in school – that is over 1,000,000 nutritious meals! n Athenaeum Limited Stratton Street Renminbi Bond Fund