As Bloomberg points out, 2016 was the year to ridicule hedge funds. A ton of them cratered, some of them collapsed, and even its superstars struggled to post gains.
Some however, managed to perform quite well despite the year’s trials and tribulations. Here are five of them, ranked in no particular order, according to Bloomberg:
- Dymon Asia Macro Fund, +12%. Dymon Asia Capital’s flagship fund scored serious gains in November after it shorted Asian currencies versus the greenback coming into the U.S. election. One of the firm’s smaller funds, the Dymon Asia Currency Value Fund, did even better, gaining an estimated 22% during the same time frame, while a highly-levered version of the currency fund returned roughly 66%.
- BFAM Asian Opportunities Master Fund, +16%. Managed by former Lehman prop trader Benjamin Fuchs, BFAM Partners’ Asian Opportunities Master Fund is one of the very few investment vehicles that can boast nine-straight months of positive returns this year. Most of the fund’s returns come from contrarian bets on bonds and derivatives, like the Kaisa Group bonds he bought while most were shorting the yuan, and Noble Group CDSs he sold while investors turned their back on Noble.
- Ally Bridge LB Healthcare Fund, +27%. The Asia-focused fund, which is managed by former Merck & Co. scientist Dr. Li Bin, primarily invests in healthcare stocks that will benefit from China’s ongoing medical reforms. Prior to joining Ally Bridge, Li researched pharmaceutical companies for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong.
- Credence Global, +12%. Despite clipping its gains to 6% back in June, the Singapore-based relative value fund shot out of its hole later in the year to post a 12% return for 2016. The fund, which was launched in 2011, boasts an 18.2% annualized gain since inception.
- Serica Credit Balanced Fund, +30%. Managed by Citigroup Asia’s former head of fixed income research, Ivan Lee, Serica Partners’ credit scored mammoth gains this year thanks to a combination of successful distressed debt plays and a rebound in Indonesian bonds. A strong bounce in resource company bonds also helped juice returns.
Photo: Charis Tsevis