Two South African hedge funds managed by Peregrine Capital have come in tops in terms of investment performance in the latest Hedge Fund Review conducted by Nedcor Retail Investments for the 12 months to end-January 2004.
The review surveys 22 participating South African hedge funds with collective assets under management of over R2,3-billion. This compares with a total local hedge fund industry of 55 funds with approximately R7-billion in funds under management, according to the estimates of the Financial Services Board.
Releasing their latest industry review on Wednesday, Nedcor said that Peregrine Capital ranked first with the performance of its High Growth Fund, which returned 50,3% for the year to end January 31, 2004, while its Performance Fund was rated second with a return of 46,3%. Both use a long-short equity strategy, with assets under management of R36,4-million and R118,8-million, respectively.
Third best performer for the period was the Interneuron Freestyle Fund, an absolute return fund through asset allocation with R112-million in assets, which recorded a 12-month return of 35,6%.
After making adjustments to performance for both volatility and the risk of under-performing the risk-free rate of return, Peregrine’s Pure Hedge Fund came out with the number-one ranking for the period.
Old Mutual Asset Managers joined the survey for the first time in January, with its SA Hedge Fund reporting a 12-month return of 7,8%. Using a long-short equity strategy based on global macro themes, it is by far the largest in the survey with R913-million in funds under management.
For the month of January 2004, the nominal performance figures show that the participating hedge funds achieved an average return of 1,9%. By comparison, the FTSE-JSE All Share Index rose by 4,4% during the month, and the BESA All Bond Index fell by 1%. The Stefi Interbank Call Rate for January was 0,6%. – I-Net Bridge