In the week ending February 19th 2021, eVestment released January 2021 hedge fund performance data which showed that hedge funds started 2021 on a high note with average industry performance of +1.02% with 59% of funds seeing positive results for the month. This follows a tumultuous 2020 which saw the hedge fund business return an average +11.07%.
Meanwhile, according to Lyxor, risk assets experienced a strong rebound in recent weeks, which benefitted Directional L/S (+3.8%) and Special Situation (+2.7%) strategies on a month-to-date basis. On a year-to-date basis, Merger Arbitrage remains the best performing strategy (+2.4%) in a context where SPACs experienced a sharp rebound (+17.9% for the IPOX SPAC Index year-to-date).
Opalesque Industry Update - Hedge funds advanced in January to begin 2021, actively trading
through a turbulent month dominated by a volatile surge in trading from retail investors concentrated in a
handful of deep value equities with significant short interest. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index
(FWC) gained +0.9 percent in January, while the investable HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite Index
advanced +0.35 percent, according to data released today by HFR.
Reflecting the powerful trading trends, the HFRI FWC experienced a wide dispersion in
constituent performance, as the top decile of the HFRI gained +11.6 percent, while the bottom decile
declined -7.8 percent for the month. As reported previously by HFR, total hedge fund capital jumped to
EDHEC: Hedge Fund Strategies Consolidate Their Performances Date
EDHEC has published the latest performance update of the EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes.
The month of November was characterized by a strong rebound in the financial markets, following two declining months. The S&P 500 registered a strong positive return (10.95%), not only erasing previous losses, but also reaching its highest index level since the start of our study period (January 1997). Market implied volatility decreased sharply to 20.57%, exactly matching its long-term average.
On the bond market, the situation also clearly improved, as both regular bonds (0.49%) and convertible bonds (10.37%) posted positive returns. Concerning commodities market, the GSCI Commodity Spot index strongly increased (13.15%) erasing all its losses since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
Statement from Davidson Kempner regarding Qiagen
Constructive and Substantive Engagement with Qiagen N.V. ( the Company )
Davidson Kempner has enjoyed considerable engagement with the Executive Management and Supervisory Board of the Company since the rejection by shareholders of the Thermo Fisher Scientific offer. The dialogue has been highly constructive and in line with Davidson Kempner s statement on 13 August 2020, focused on the following key areas:
1.
Refocusing the strategy on higher growth businesses with a disciplined capital allocation framework
As part of the debate and discussion with the Company ahead of the Capital Markets Day ( CMD ) on 8 December 2020, Davidson Kempner engaged industry leading consultants to thoroughly evaluate the underlying markets the Company operates in, including their growth prospects and market positioning, and the attractiveness of various long term strategies.