newAMheader
Dear Alpha Mail Subscriber:


As this email is being assembled, we're on the eve of yet another snow day here in the Northeast US.  Whether it's La Ni�a or some kind of snow-induced Armaggedon, offices and schools from the Southern US to the UK Midlands are facing one of their weirdest, snowiest winters on record.

  

While home heating oil or natural gas may warm your frigid feet, long bets on commodities may not be all they're cut out to be.  This is according to an article in the Journal of Alternative Investments, the subject of our top ranked post from the last month.


Conventional wisdom was also challenged in last month's second ranked post.  If you think funds of funds are only good for uncovering new managers, you might want to check that one out too.


If you work for a pension fund, no doubt you've become an expert in managing the wildly fluctuating gaps between your assets and liabilities.  A report by Goldman Sachs suggests that new global accounting standards could dramatically impact the way you view this gap in the future. 


Other popular posts covered operational red flags, the relationship between alpha generation and geographic distance and the risks of "taking the TED spread at face value."  


Our head office just outside Boston, Massachusetts has witnessed nearly a half-dozen school closing days due to snow and one state of emergency.  Should be an eventful winter.  And, if you're stuck at home, here's some reading to pass the time...

   

Last Month's Most Popular Posts 
  1. "Serious doubts" raised about hedging potential of long-only commodities
    Thought commodities were going to be man's best friend when inflation strikes? You might want to read this...
     
  2. Hedge fund manager-diversification vs. hedge fund strategy-diversification
    It maybe true that rotating among individual managers is an important source of returns for funds of funds. But research suggests you shouldn't give up on strategy-diversification just yet.
     
  3. Is the proof in the pudding? Detecting fraud and operational risks through hedge fund performance and reporting
    If only you could just ask a hedge fund manager if he was cooking the books...

     
  4. Report suggests alternative investment allocations could be impacted by new pension accounting rules
    Hedge fund allocations at US pension funds could be the victim or the beneficiary of changes to pension rules currently being debated internationally.
     
  5. Report warns about taking credit spreads at face value
    Gone are the days when figuring the crowd affected the pricing and spreads along various parts of the credit market structure. According to a recent report by Standard & Poor's, hedge fund traders and other market participants make measuring credit risk a lot more difficult than it used to be.
     
  6. Mutual funds with far-away holdings found to mimic hedge funds
    A transnational study of mutual funds sheds light on one of the secrets of hedge funds' overall success.
     
  7. AIFMD to hedge fund managers: Put that in your pipe and smoke it
    The Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive has cast hedge fund managers as pariahs to be closely monitored, but research and history suggest the industry will adapt and survive.
     
  8. HFs R AWSUM!!!
    Inventor of VIX adds a new flavor to the fruit salad of financial indexes.
     
  9. Ok people: stretch those muscles, and let's invest in a way that has a positive impact!
    Not to be confused with crashing and burning or with high-intensity workouts, impact investing promises to be the next step forward in earning a return and being socially and politically responsible. What remains to be seen is how many institutions will adapt to it.
     
  10. European Central Bank's "Financial Stability Review" lean on hedge fund concerns (for now)
    The European Central Bank's latest financial stability review barely mentions hedge funds at all. Is no news good news?

As regular readers are aware, I have been wearing two hats for the past few years: one as the managing editor of this august publication and the other as "chief cheerleader" for our parent, the CAIA Assocation, in the Americas.  

As I wear that second hat, I am continually impressed by the energy and excitement displayed by CAIA designees in the Americas and around the world.  Whereas I used to have to introduce CAIA to conference participants, people now approach me and my colleagues to express their interest in both the designation and the global network of over 4,600 members who earned it.  It seems that few alternative investment professionals are now unfamiliar with CAIA.

That was true in Florida last week at GAIM USA, where several hundred alternative investment professionals met to take stock of their industry.  It was also true at a CAIA reception hosted in downtown Miami after the conference.  And it was true as well in Sao Paulo, Brazil just before the holidays when CAIA hosted 65 professionals in the tony Jardine District to hear presentations and a panel on the state of the hedge fund industry.  
 
Like AllAboutAlpha.com, CAIA aims to be a catalyst for education and networking among all "A.I." professionals, not just its members.  To that end, I'll be on the road over the next few months and hope to meet more of you then...

If you're in New York in Mid-February, check out the latest installment of Battle of the Quants.  If you know of this event, then you must know that it will satisfy your intellectual curiousity on matters like how to mine Twitter data for trading ideas.  I'm moderating a panel or two and look forward to seeing a few of you there.

Toronto readers might want to sign up for this lunch event organised by AIMA, featuring several speakers including CAIA's own Keith Black, author, professor, consultant and noted A.I. expert.  As the moderator, I hope to see a few of you there as well.

If you have even a passing interest in the role of hedge funds in the Middle East (as you should), check out Hedge Funds World Middle East in Dubai in early March.  CAIA's Steve Wallace will be speaking at that event along with Nouriel Roubini, Pershing Square's Bill Ackman and, again, your humble scribe, who will serve as one of the ring-leaders.

I'll also be in Hong Kong in late March to co-chair Fund Forum Asia and in Singapore in April to participate in another in CAIA's popular series of "Hedge Fund Roundtables."  More on those events next month.

Finally, we are inching closer to appointing AllAboutAlpha's next Managing Editor to free me up for other CAIA-related initiatives.  Stay tuned for more on that next month.    
     
So until then, happy alpha hunting (and snow shovelling!)
 
Chris
 
Christopher Holt, Managing Editor
AllAboutAlpha.com

January 31, 2011
dome

A Service of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association 

   CAIA Banner


Quick Links

News that caught our eye last month -
 Snowed In edition

 (free registration may be required)


Upcoming Conferences of Note
Subscribe now