Global Macro Strategies Hold Attention As Hedge Funds Eye Launches - Cerulli

Tom Burroughes

30 October 2017

Hedge fund managers aren’t expected to have shot the lots out in terms of new products this year, but some do have ideas for new strategies in the pipeline, with the global macro sector a field of interest, suggesting that there’s plenty of life in the sector, according to Cerulli Associates, the Boston-headquartered analytics and research firm.

"Global macro strategies lead product development plans with 19 per cent of managers currently developing a product and another 23 per cent considering it," Michel Giuditta, associate director at Cerulli, said of the report.

"While the pace of hedge fund new product development is expected to be low during 2017, some managers polled have a pipeline of products currently in development or under consideration," Giditta, said.

"Although macro funds experienced aggregate net outflows for the period, bleeding $9.76 billion in assets, according to eVestment data, several managers with whom Cerulli spoke anticipate improved performance for macro funds in 2017," he continued. "Asset managers anticipate geopolitical uncertainty and many macro events on the horizon to increase market volatility and drive opportunities for improved performance for the strategy overall," he said.

Most managers polled by Cerulli said their hedge funds are designed to provide diversification and volatility mitigation . Additionally, more than half of managers identify their products' abilities to generate enhanced returns as their primary objective.

The comments come the report entitled US Alternative Products and Strategies 2017: The Evolving Search for Risk-Adjusted Returns. This report focuses on the US retail and institutional alternative product landscape and the distribution and product development trends in the US alternative asset market.