Profile announces hedge fund database

ProfileData announced today that it is in the final stages of engineering a hedge fund database for the South African market.

ProfileData is a subsidiary of information publisher Profile Group, a leading South African supplier of data feeds and customised data solutions for financial markets participants.

"Information on individual hedge funds is still hard to get," says Johann du Preez, ProfileData's chief executive. "The new hedge fund product will provide standardised, comparable information for financial services companies and their clients."

The regulation of hedge funds in South Africa in 2016 did not trigger the retail interest that many expected. Profile Group chairman Ernie Alexander believes this is partly because hedge funds remain less transparent than other collective investments.

"It's not easy to source data or compare net returns within the hedge sector," says Alexander, "our new database offering will help to change that."

The hedge fund product from ProfileData is modelled on the highly successful FundsData product used by participants across the industry. Like FundsData, the
hedge product will allow users to filter on fund characteristics and compare funds across time periods.

"The new product will also make it possible to compare hedge funds to other collective investments," says Alexander.

ProfileData's hedge fund database product will be launched by the end of the year.