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Awards 2011

ACUMEN CAPITAL wins top hedge fund award

Acumen Capital’s AcuityOne Hedge Fund was named Fund of the Year at the HedgeNews Africa Awards 2011, delivering a net 35% gain for investors in the past calendar year, topping an impressive list of winners across a range of categories.

The Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund was a double winner, taking the South African Multi-Strategy and the New Fund of the Year awards, while the 36ONE Hedge Fund won for best Long/Short Fund, the South African industry’s biggest category by assets under management.

The winners were announced at a gala dinner hosted last night at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town and attended by the industry’s preeminent hedge fund managers and investors.

The annual awards are based on monthly data compiled by HedgeNews Africa, the leading independent publisher in the region focused on the hedge fund and alternative asset management industries. Independently examined by eComply to ensure the accuracy of the data used in deciding the winners, the awards recognise the best risk-adjusted returns of alternative investment funds in South Africa and the broader Africa region.

“Hedge funds have again demonstrated their ability to protect capital while delivering healthy returns,” said Gwyneth Roberts, editor of HedgeNews Africa. “South African managers outperformed their global peers by some margin in 2011, gaining 8.79% against a decline of 1.9% in the HedgeFund Intelligence Global Composite. Hedge funds also fared better than the general market, with Johannnesburg’s All Share Index gaining just 2.57% during the year on a total return basis.”

“This year’s winners and nominees were ahead of their peers and deserve recognition for impressive returns and consistent performance in the volatile markets of 2011.”

The AcuityOne Hedge Fund, a fixed income fund which gained 35% on a Sharpe of 3.18, earned the Fund of the Year title amongst a strong contender list that included the 36ONE Hedge Fund, Brait Matrix Fixed Income Fund, Cadiz ZAR Opportunities Fund, Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund and the Mazi Visio Market Neutral Fund.

Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund emerged as a double winner, taking the South African Multi-Strategy award with a 57.67% return for the year on a Sharpe ratio of 4.19. This outstanding performance also contributed to the Fairtree fund winning the New Fund of the Year award with an annualised return of 40.04% since inception in August 2010 on a Sharpe of 2.53.

In the South African Equity category, 36ONE Hedge Fund took the honours with a 19.16% return for 2011 on a Sharpe of 3.33.

Peregrine Capital Pure Hedge was the winner in the South African Market Neutral and Quantitative category, posting a 10.83% return with a Sharpe of 3.76%. A 24.01% return with a Sharpe of 4.29 earned Atlantic Point Hedge Fund the South African Fixed Income award.

Amongst fund of hedge funds, Edge Capital’s Edge Iconic Torero Aggressive Equity Fund won the Best Fund of Funds award with a 16.6% return for the year on a Sharpe of 2.95.

Against the backdrop of challenging market conditions in the broader Africa region, the Imara Zimbabwe Fund was the winner in the Pan-Africa and MENA – Long/Absolute Return category with a 0.37% return on a Sharpe of -0.34 while the Laurium Capital Zambezi Fund took the Pan-Africa and MENA – Hedge award with a 0.53% return for 2011 on a Sharpe of -0.49.

A Special Africa Award went to Barak Structured Trade Finance Fund with a 16.14% return on a Sharpe of 36.56 — one of the few Africa-focused funds to deliver healthy positive returns in a year when many African markets ended far into negative territory.

With a 30.07% return for the year on a 2.11 Sharpe, Polar Star Agricultural Commodities Fund was the winner of the Specialist Strategies award.

Brait Matrix Fixed Income Fund and the Novare Mayibentsha Focused Fund of Funds took the long-term awards, judged over three years.

Brait Matrix was the winner of the Long-Term Performance – Single-Manager award with an annualised return of 27.06% on a Sharpe of 1.76.

Novare Mayibentsha Focused Fund of Funds won the Long-Term Performance – Fund of Funds category with a 12.63% annualised return on a Sharpe of 1.74.

The awards are hosted in partnership with leading service providers in the industry, namely Investec Prime Broking, Nedbank Capital, Rand Merchant Bank, Deutsche Bank and Peregrine Securities.

 

Final Nominations

South African Equity
36ONE Hedge Fund
Coronation Presidio Fund
Nitrogen Fund
Peregrine Capital Oakmont Fund
Tower Fund

South African Market Neutral and Quantitative
Blueprint Hedge Fund
Mazi Visio Market Neutral Fund
Peregrine Capital Pure Hedge
X-Chequer Market Neutral Fund

South African Multi-Strategy
Brait Multi-Strategy Fund
Cadiz ZAR Opportunities Fund
Coronation Multi-Strategy Arbitrage Fund
Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund

South African Fixed Income
AcuityOne Hedge Fund
Atlantic Point Hedge Fund
Brait Matrix Fixed Income Fund

Pan-Africa and MENA – Long / Absolute Return
Finch Africa Fund
Imara African Opportunities Fund
Imara Zimbabwe Fund

Pan-Africa and MENA – Hedge
Enko Opportunity Growth Fund
Laurium Capital Zambezi Fund
Insparo Africa and Middle East Master Fund
Nubuke Africa Multi-strategy Fund

Specialist Strategies
Barak Structured Trade Finance Fund
Genometry BC Specialised Opportunities Fund
Polar Star Agricultural Commodities Fund

Best Fund of Funds
27four Alternative Long Short Equity
Edge Iconic Matador I Fund
Edge Iconic Matador II Fund
Edge Iconic Picador Aggressive Fixed Income Fund
Edge Iconic Torero Aggressive Equity Fund
Sygnia All Star Fund of Hedge Funds

Long-Term Performance – Single Manager
36ONE Hedge Fund
Brait Matrix Fixed Income Fund
Fairtree Fixed Income Fund
Validus Fixed Income Fund

Long-Term Performance – Fund of Funds
Blue Ink-ubator Diversified Fund of Funds
Edge Iconic Matador I Fund
Edge Iconic Multi-Strategy Fund
Novare Mayibentsha Focused Fund of Funds
Sygnia Signature Fund of Hedge Funds

New Fund of the Year
BDI Alpha Factory Fund
Blueprint Long/Short Hedge Fund
Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund
Genometry BC Specialised Opportunities Fund

Fund of the Year
36ONE Hedge Fund
AcuityOne Hedge Fund
Brait Matrix Fixed Income Fund
Cadiz ZAR Opportunities Fund
Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Asset Class Fund
Mazi Visio Market Neutral Fund

 

Awards Methodology

The HedgeNews Africa Awards 2011 took place in Cape Town on February 23, 2012.

As in previous years, the awards are based on net monthly returns for the 12-month period as well as Sharpe ratio, seeking to measure the best risk-adjusted returns in each category.

In order to qualify for a nomination, funds must have a minimum of $10 million (about R70 million) under management. Exceptions are the new fund category, which allows for lower assets under management, and the long-term awards, for which funds must have a minimum of US$30 million under management (R210 million).

Nominations are based on quantitative factors, with the award ultimately going to the fund with the highest return for the period, provided its Sharpe ratio is within 25% of the top Sharpe in the category. Exceptions are made in the case of categories that combine different strategy areas, where some qualitative criteria may need to be applied.

  • Provisional nominations will be announced in November.
    •    Final nominations will be announced in January.

Funds submitting their monthly returns to our database are automatically considered for the awards.

New funds can submit data to data@hedgenewsafrica.com.