Main findings
- 161 Euro billion of total assets under management monitored at end of September 2014, up from 147.5 Euro billion at end of June 2014
- Alternative UCITS inflows in 3Q 2014: +8.5 Euro billion for Single managers; -14 Euro million for Fund of funds: Long/short equity and Fixed income strategies continue to drive the growth of the sector in the first nine months of 2014: +11.2 Euro billion and +9.6 Euro billion of inflows respectively
- Fixed income (45.3 Euro billion), Long/short equity (33.3 Euro billion) and Multistrategy (12.8 Euro billion) are the top three strategies by assets managed
- 15 new alternative UCITS funds were launched, 12 were liquidated
Flows into alternative single manager UCITS funds in 3Q 2014
Data in Euro millions. Source: MondoAlternative. Chart 1
The third quarter of 2014 has seen further EUR 8.5 billion flowing into the alternative UCITS sector, thus bringing the total asset gathering in 2014 to the record level of EUR 31.2 billion. “The sentiment in the second part of the year is, indeed, very positive towards alternative Fixed income strategies, whose assets are surging”, Stefano Gaspari, chief executive officer of MondoAlternative says. According to the new MondoAlternative quarterly report, alternative Fixed income strategies attracted EUR 4.3 billion since July to the end of September, followed by Long/short equity funds (EUR 943 million) and Event driven products (EUR 920 million). “It must be observed that, the majority of inflows ascribe to just three Fixed income funds: Goldman Sachs Global Strategic Income Bond Portfolio, BlueBay Investment Grade Absolute Return Bond Fund and Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond Fund. Together, they grew by EUR 3 billion in three months”, Gaspari outlines.
According to the report, from January until the end of September, Long/short equity strategies are still on the top in terms of inflows, having collected EUR 11.2 billion. The bulk went to funds focused on Europe (EUR 6.8 billion), followed by those focused on the US market (EUR 2.3 billion) and on the UK (EUR 933 million). “The rush for Equity hedged strategies has stopped, due to some funds limiting the new subscriptions and also due to the market conditions and the sentiment towards equity investments”, Gaspari observes.
Flows into Long/short equity UCITS funds, by specialization
Data in Euro millions. Source: MondoAlternative. Chart 2
During the third quarter of 2014, global asset managers (defined as a company managing hedge funds and other types of investments) managing 80.7% of the assets of alternative UCITS products, were able to gather 7.3 Euro billion, the 85.7% of the inflows. On the other side, hedge fund boutiques (companies managing exclusively hedge fund strategies), registered a positive flow of EUR 7.2 billion (14.3% of the total). “Alternative UCITS assets are concentrated in the hands of billion Euro companies, that are continuously growing in number: they are now 37 (considering just the alt. UCITS assets under management) and they manage EUR 129.3 billion, or 80.3% of the total”, Gaspari says.
Distribution of Industry Assets by Fund AUM
Source: MondoAlternative. Chart 3
Due to increased volatility on equity markets, spreads between top and bottom funds started to widen, especially for what regards Managed future funds, Emerging markets and Macro strategies. “We expect volatility will be beneficial to some alternative strategies that where put aside in the past year or two, namely Managed futures and Macro”, Gaspari says.
Focus on the Italian market
- At the end of September, of the 497 alternative UCITS funds monitored by MondoAlternative, 347 are authorized for sale in Italy.
- In Italy, 23 Asset management companies manage 36 single manager products and 10 funds of alternative UCITS funds, for a total AUM equal to EUR 6.8 billion, registering a growth of EUR 506 million in 3Q 2014.
- Long/short equity products dominates the AUM rankings in Italy: Anima Alto Potenziale Globale (Long/short equity) is the biggest single manager fund with EUR 823.9 million, followed by Anima Star High Potential Europe (EUR 811.7 million, Long/short equity) and Kairos International Sicav Selection (EUR 623.4 million, Long/short equity) at the end of September 2014.
- Anima Flex 50 leads the Fund of funds ranking by AUM, with EUR 392.5 million, followed by Kairos International Sicav Multi Strategy Ucits (EUR 252.5 million) and Tages Capital Sicav Global Alpha Selection (EUR 137 million) at the end of September 2014.
Other findings of the report
- +0.26% performance (Equal Weighted Index) in 3Q 2014 for single managers, (+0.63% Asset weighted Index), YTD performance at +1.24% (Equal Weighted Index), during the same period 3 months Libor performed +0.19%;
- +0.25% performance (Equal Weighted Index) in 3Q 2014 for funds of funds, (+0.54% Asset weighted Index), YTD performance at +0.32% (Equal Weighted Index);
- 52.8% of the single manager funds performed positively over the 3rd quarter of 2014.