The Fairtree Assegai Equity Long Short SNN QI Hedge Fund took home the prestigious Fund of the Year trophy at the HedgeNews Africa Awards 2019, celebrated at a gala dinner in Cape Town last night (February 20).
Fairtree Assegai, managed by Stephen Brown, generated an exemplary return of 45.49% on a Sharpe ratio of 1.9, making it the top-performing fund across all hedge fund categories for calendar-year 2019.
In the long/short equity category, the Anchor Accelerator SNN QI Hedge Fund, managed by Damon Hoff and Liam Hechter, received the top honours, with a return of 31.42% and a Sharpe ratio of 2.57, in a year when South African equities added around 12%.
The X-Chequer SNN Diplo QI Hedge Fund, managed by Werner and Eugene Prinsloo, was a clear winner in the market-neutral and quantitative category, generating a calendar-year gain of 18.04% and Sharpe ratio of 1.73.
Amongst fixed income funds, the Southchester Smart Escalator Prescient QI Hedge Fund put forward a risk-adjusted return that no other competitor could match for the second consecutive year, gaining 12.43% on a Sharpe of 2.61.
In the multi-strategy category, the Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund emerged victorious with a gain of 25.15% and Sharpe of 1.98.
The property-focused Catalyst Alpha Prescient QI Hedge Fund was the winner amongst specialist strategies, gaining 10.87% on a 1.26 Sharpe.
Double honours were given in the Pan Africa category for 2019, with a trophy each to the equity-focused Gondo Visio Metsi Fund (20.22% return, 2.06 Sharpe) and the Enko Africa Debt Fund (25.07% return, 10.59 Sharpe).
The New Fund of the Year award, which covers funds launched within the past 12-23 months, went to the Trinomial RCIS Vega QI Hedge Fund, managed by Dr Linda Smith, with an impressive net gain of 11.07% and a Sharpe of 2.35.
The trophy for best Fund of Funds in 2019 went to Momentum RCIS Multi Managed ZAR Equity Hedge QI Hedge Fund, with a net gain of 16.5% and Sharpe of 2.8.
In the category of best performance over five years, Fairtree Assegai was awarded its second trophy of the night (annualised return 20.25%, Sharpe 0.77), together with dual winner Acumen AcuityOne SNN Retail Hedge Fund (annualised return 13.94%, Sharpe 1.04).
For best performance by a single manager over 10 years, double honours were also awarded – to the Peregrine Capital High Growth H4 QI Hedge Fund (annualised return 18.08%, Sharpe 1.59) and the Polar Star SNN QI Hedge Fund (annualised return 19.2%, Sharpe 0.95).
In the long-term Fund of Funds categories, Alexander Forbes Investments Stable QI Hedge Fund of Funds was victorious over five years (8.25% annualised return, 0.92 Sharpe) while the Old Mutual Multi-Managers Long Short Equity FoHF triumphed over 10 years (10.4% annualised return, 0.81 Sharpe).
Now in their 11th year, the Awards measure the best risk-adjusted returns of funds across 13 different categories. They are based on monthly data submitted to the HedgeNews Africa database, which includes South African hedge funds as well as other pioneering strategies applied across the broader African markets.
They are based on an established methodology and independently verified data submitted to HedgeNews Africa, the region’s leading independent publisher focused on the hedge fund and alternative asset management industries.
“South African hedge funds have again shown their ability to generate strong risk-adjusted returns in varying market conditions, making them worthy of investor attention in an environment of heightened risks,” notes Gwyneth Roberts, the publisher of HedgeNews Africa.
In total, 38 nominations were given across 13 categories, with the one-year awards ultimately going to those funds with the top return provided their Sharpe ratio was within 25% of the top Sharpe amongst the nominees – a method to appraise consistency of returns.
Attended by the industry’s leading fund managers and investors, the annual awards were hosted in partnership with top industry service providers, namely Investec, RMB, Absa Capital, Legae Peresec, Realfin and SANNE.
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