Hedge funds are facing a ‘critical period’ in wake of US pension fund’s decision to divest from asset class, writes Christopher O’DeaThe recent decision by US benchmark public-employee pension fund CalPERS to eliminate its entire $4bn (€3.1bn) hedge fund allocation signals the potential review of hedge fund holdings at all pension funds at a time when the vehicles are struggling to improve sluggish returns and reduce volatility that’s unsettling investors looking to them to dampen fluctuations in portfolios.While hedge funds represent only about 2% of CalPERS’ portfolio, the fund’s investing strategy is a widely watched barometer for how public-employee funds allocate their assets.“Hedge funds are certainly a viable strategy for some, but, at the end of the day, when judged against their complexity, cost and the lack of ability to scale at CalPERS’ size, the Absolute Return Strategies programme is no longer warranted,” said Ted Eliopoulos, CIO. CalPERS’ move has been in the making since this spring, when Eliopoulos took over as interim CIO, replacing his predecessor, Joe Dear, who died earlier this year. Eliopoulos, who joined CalPERS in January 2007 as senior investment officer for real assets, was named CIO just days after CalPERS announced it was terminating its hedge fund programme.The change will result in asset withdrawals from 24 hedge funds and six funds of hedge funds. CalPERS says it will take about a year to exit the funds in a manner that does not result in a negative impact on the value of its holdings.But CalPERS’ decision has already put a spotlight on the value of hedge funds to pension portfolios, says Frederick Rowe, vice-chairman of the Employees Retirement System of Texas and general partner at Greenbrier Partners, a money management firm in Dallas. Rowe believes it’s time for all pension funds to weigh the contribution of alternatives against the cost of holding hedge funds. “I think they should look,” he says.Meanwhile, Donald Steinbrugge, CFA and managing partner of hedge fund consultancy Agecroft Partners, says investors, as a result of the CalPERS news, can expect continued downward pressure on hedge fund fees for large mandates.Over the last five years, “there has been a strong trend of hedge funds increasingly offering fee breaks for large pension funds and the clients of institutional consulting firms”, he says.Managers initially discounted management fees only, but now discount performance fees as well.“For a typical hedge fund with a 2-and-20 fee structure, the discount is often 25% off standard fees,” he says. But he adds that, on average, pension funds will continue to increase their allocations to hedge funds.That’s because most institutions currently target an after-fee return assumption of 4-7% for a diversified portfolio of hedge funds – compared with core fixed income at only 2.5-3%.“As long as the expected return is higher for hedge funds than fixed income,” he says, “we will continue to see money shift from fixed income to hedge funds.”That’s held true so far. Hedge funds continued to garner assets at a strong pace in August, with more than $12bn flowing into alternatives, pushing total industry AUM to another all-time high of more than $3trn, according to eVestment’s Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report.With US equities at record highs, “alternative exposures to equity and credit markets make a lot of sense for today’s institutional investors”, says Peter Laurelli, eVestment vice-president of research.Yet, despite fee discounting, hedge funds just aren’t getting the job done. Hedge fund returns have lagged the S&P 500 by a wide margin over the last one, three and five-year periods ended in June, according to research firm Preqin.And while institutional investors look to hedge funds to dampen volatility, the sector got off to a rocky start in 2014 – the Preqin All Hedge Fund Benchmark posted a loss in three of the first four months of the year, leaving nearly one-third of respondents in the firm’s second-quarter investor confidence survey dissatisfied with hedge fund performance.While it may take some time for pension investors to alter their alternative allocations, Rowe says the industry has entered a critical period – and hedge funds face a fundamental challenge.“When you have a diversified group of managers,” he says, “it’s going to be hard to beat the market after expenses and fees.”And fee discounting only proves the point. “You start out behind, and it’s hard to catch up.”
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Did Diego Maradona trigger Lionel Messi’s shock decision to retire?
Lionel Messi’s sudden retirement has shocked the world. When a player on the top of his game decides to call it quits, it’s a sad day generally. The world has cried, clapped off legends of the game when they retired, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic most recently but they never got the chance to clap off perhaps the greatest footballer of all time. What could have been the reason behind this outrageous decision by Leo? Every player likes a dream farewell, every player wants to end on a high and at 29, why did Messi decide to come out in the open and jolt the world? (Also read: Lionel Messi announces international retirement after Copa America loss)While social media is going gaga over Messi’s decision to retire and has different opinions, there is a common word in each of the comments and posts put out – Why?Well, the answer might be very simple. This is Lionel Messi’s third defeat in a final with Argentina. Twice in a row in Copa America to Chile. Argentina also lost the World Cup finals back in 2014 to Germany in the 113th minute of the match to a Mario Goetze goal. It was heartbreak then and it’s a heartbreak now but Messi could proudly say that he had carried the team forward on all the three tournaments the La Albiceleste lost out on. Messi scored five goals and created four in this year’s Copa Amercia and it was believed that this is finally going to be Messi’s year but he failed at the most important stage, blasting his penalty into the stands costing Argentina another trophy. He felt guilty and hence retirement at the age of 29. But is it really so? (Also Read: Lionel Messi’s journey: Goals, heartbreak and unparalleled greatness)advertisementPerhaps, the real reason behind this sudden decision is the pressure ushered upon him by the media and more than 40 million people back home. Most importantly, Diego Maradona was heard saying that Argentina should win the Copa America or not come back at all. That’s the level of expectation the little magician from Rosario had to deal with. It was enormous and being the only consistent performer and the ‘best player in the world’, he had to deliver. He failed at the most important stage. Again. It takes a second for a person to blame you when you fall short, forgetting all the good work before that single moment of madness and maybe that’s what Messi couldn’t take for the third time. With Maradona’s recent statement and the disappointment of the nation in mind, Messi had to do something to avoid being the scapegoat once again and he decides to step down turning the attention completely. Now, people would want him back and will not ask for his head. That’s exactly what’s happening. Subtle? Only Messi knows. (Also Read: More Argentina players may retire from internationals: Sergio Aguero)But, Messi might and will do a Zinedine Zidane in all probability in a year’s time if not months. Zidane returned for France for the World Cup in Germany back in 2006 after he retired from International football following the 2004 Euros. The probability of such a return remains as Leo is too young and hungry to give up without a major trophy for Argentina in his career. However, to walk out following another disappointing final and being the martyr might just have saved him the blushes for the third time in a row.