$14 billion blown vs 152% return… Hedge fund

For the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the hedge fund’s performance also split into’K’. The poor and the poor were clear. The man who turned the crisis into an opportunity sat on a money cushion, but the man on the express train in crisis crashed to the bottom.

According to an analysis by the Financial Times (FT) on the 24th (local time), the difference between the top 10 and the bottom 10 in annual hedge fund management returns this year was the largest since the 2008 economic crisis initiated by Lehman Brothers.

Hedge fund polarization is confirmed by numbers. According to data group HFR, the average return of the top 10 companies was 49% as of the end of November, the highest level since 2009. The gap with the lower part was 68.9%, the largest level since 2009, FT reported. This means that the average return of the bottom 10 companies reaches -19.9%. We looked at the three winners and three losers of the hedge fund that went to Heaven and Hell this year as reported by FT.

On April 20, Pierre Andurand, a professional oil price investor, tweeted, saying, “There is no limit to the fall of oil prices,” and “it may fall to negative”. A few hours later, Andurand’s prophecy became a reality. On that day, the futures price for May of Western Texas Oil (WTI) fell to -37.63 dollars per barrel.

For the first time ever, negative oil prices fell into fame for most of the market participants. However, Andurand started investing through his own Andurand Commodities. Betting on a rebound in oil prices recorded a return of 152%. He told Reuters in June, “If you feel that there is a big change in supply and demand, we analyze the data to quantify the impact on the market.” I invested.”

Some people made profits by taking the falling blade without fear. This is Ran Wang Simond, a Chinese female fund manager who runs Mandarin Offshore. There was also a moment of crisis in the US stock market, which continued the relay of the highest price this year. In March, after the US stock market faltered, it intensively bought stocks during the bearish market. These include Apple and Tesla, and Netflix, the parent company of Amazon and Google. Since November of last year, the average return of Mandarin Offshore for the past one year has reached 28%.

Some hedge fund managers made profits by turning their hopes for vaccines into money. This is Jeffrey Talpins, 45, a billionaire investor. The $1.7 billion (about 1.87 trillion won) hedge fund rolled by Talphins made a bold bet on Pfizer when there was no significant progress in vaccine development. It made about 15% profit.

Talpins is a graduate of Yale University who has been called a mathematics gifted student and transformed into an investor. In 2018, when hedge funds’ average return (-1.86%) remained negative, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was “a person who became the new king of hedge funds.” A new investment talent appeared.”

If there is light, there will be shadows. Some hedge fund managers have had a year like a nightmare. Billionaire Michael Hintz is a prime example. According to FT, Hintz lost $1.4 billion in investment this year. According to Forbes billionaire count, his assets as of the 27th are $3 billion. It means that almost half of his assets were lost due to investment failure.

In a recent letter to investors, Hintz wrote, “This year the market has probably shown the greatest volatility a generation can experience.” He replaced a number of hedge fund managers and is in consultation with him saying, “We will seize new opportunities.”

Ray Dalio, a legendary investor, is also having a bitter end of the year. The return on investment this year for the Pure Alpha Fund, which Bridgewater, an investment company represented by Dalio, has been ambitiously operating, is poor at -10%. It made up at the return of -18.6% in August, but the face of the price for explaining his investment principles in 2017’s best-selling 『Principles』 is not a word. Pocheon commented, “It was a terrible year for Dalio, who wanted to put himself in the ranks of great thinkers.”

Being a billionaire doesn’t always make the right decisions. David Harding, CEO of Winton Capital Group, has assets of $1.3 billion by Forbes. Harding stood out in the 1980s by collecting statistical data and investing in computers. At the time, it was a groundbreaking method. Harding said in an interview with a domestic media in 2011, “Investors use business administration majors as fund managers, but I leave it to scientists.” However, it recently declared that it did not use such a strategic investment strategy, and the return on investment this year plummeted to -22%. It is a tragedy caused by a false judgment, according to FT’s critique of “a controversial decision”.

Reporter Jeon Sujin [email protected]