AI Magazine Issue 2 2017

Acquisition International - February 2017 57 G.A.M.A.G Group is a group of companies investing their proprietary capital worldwide using alpha-oriented und hedge strategies. Following on from our success in winning the Best Equity Orientated Fund of Funds: GAMAG Black & White Certificate & Innovators in High Finance & Alpha Generation, we turn the spot light on our proprietary trading group and the hedge fund industry in Germany today. nvestors with the G.A.M.A.G companies are buying securities (index-linked notes) issued by German Asset Managers AG, Frankfurt, which in turn invests its monies primarily with GAMAG special purpose vehicles GAMAG Black + White Ltd. and GAMAG Vola + Value Ltd. These companies in turn are investing with hedge funds, are buying stocks, bonds and notes worldwide and use derivatives extensively to hedge or gain from time decay. The success of such investments is independently monitored and calculated monthly via the G.A.M.A.G indices (actively managed performance indices). GAMAG group´s clients are primarily mid and high net worth individuals and smaller fund of hedge funds. GAMAG group offers no services. It is a proprietary trading group. There is therefore no tailoring of our products and services. GAMAG group trades different strategies from which investors may chose according to their investment preferences. GAMAG strategies are using many options´ strategies to reduce risk. Historically volatility experienced was only one third of the like of the underlying markets. Our overall mission is to achieve superior long term risk adjusted returns, while having solid exposure to tangible assets, to achieve maximum protection against failure of the financial markets at whole. In addition, we are doing what we think is best for our proprietary capital. As a midsize firm, we are better able to switch our approaches to analysis, strategy and technology faster than any big house. Company: German Asset Managers Group Name: Carsten Straush, President Email: straush@ germanasset.com Web: www.germanasset.com Address: Bettinastr.30 60325 Frankfurt, Germany Phone: +49 69 97461134 Hedge Your Bets I HF170089 Hedge Your Bets Differentiating the business from competitors We are really alpha traders who trade only on proprietary research, which we generate in house. Our unique style is easily seen by comparing our performances with those of popular HF indices. They really differ a lot! Do our investors realise this sufficiently? We are certainly trying to educate them on the matter. Overview of the hedge fund industry in Germany Germany is not a well-known HF spot, neither from the buy nor the sell side. There are some family offices and some corporate investors in the play, but we cater mainly to private investors personally. The major challenge is the risk-averse nature of the German investor and his or her limited knowledge regarding the characteristics of HF styles. Furthermore, the regulatory environment is a tough one. Germany in that sense can be compared to New York, in the sense that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. If the German investor is forced to bleed return, due to negative interest rates for a longer period of time, the he or she will discover that HF returns are attractive. In my view, Germany is an emerging market with respect to HFs. This makes it complicated on one hand, but very lucrative on the other. Internal culture We are an entrepreneurial company. We service nobody but the superior risk return profile and long term growth of the group. Everybody is paid according to this aim e.g. by way of long dated compensation packages and is promoted according to achieving long term goals. Everybody is given maximum responsibility possible and confronted with the task to be entrepreneur on his own. We want people that would like to do the job they are on even if there would be no monetary compensation. Developments on the horizon The fun will go on. Artificial intelligence is a new and interesting frontier. Given the fact that more and more transactions are initiated by machines researching the errors of algos is the winning approach for the future. “The fun will go on. Artificial intelligence is a new and interesting frontier. Given the fact that more and more transactions are initiated by machines researching the errors of algos is the winning approach for the future.”