Alpha Mail (March)

Dear Alpha Mail Subscriber:

Although alternative investments are generally seen as the new kids on the fund management block, many types of "alternative" assets have been around for some time. Private equity, distressed debt, currencies and commodities have been around for years (centuries really). But this medley of assets seems to have coalesced in recent years and has been joined by bona fide newbies, the hedge funds, under the umbrella of alternative investments.

Last month's most popular posts at AllAboutAlpha.com amount to a tribute to this fruit salad of an asset class. Posts on currencies, infrastructure, gold, distressed debt, hedge funds and environmental investing all made the top 10 list in March.

For those who want to keep up on the latest academic research in the alternative investment space but don't relish the thought of wading through hundreds of pages of tables and formulas, we've also assembled a list of our top 20 posts based on academic papers over the past several months. Naturally, these papers weren't written for casual web surfers like you. So we hope you find our layman's translations to be a quick way of understanding what the rocket scientists are pondering these days.

Without further ado, here's the alternative investment fruit salad from last month - a dessert for your portfolios...

Last Month's Most Popular Posts

Is the gargantuan currency market actually getting overcrowded?
It's hard to believe, but even a four trillion dollar a day market can get a little too cozy every once in a while.

Our most popular academic papers over the past six months
Here's a list of the top 20 AllAboutAlpha.com posts over the past 6 months that summarized academic and practitioner research papers. As you'll quickly see, it's like drinking from an intellectual fire hose...

Is gold the silver bullet for pension deficits?
There are some pensions who're sure, all that glitters is gold. And they're trying to make hay in twenty-eleven...

Think you know all about infrastructure investments? Think again.
Infrastructure investments remain a hot trend among institutional investors, though a new report suggests they are a lot more complicated - and risky - than as commonly perceived.

Hedge funds and "stock manipulation": Perpetrators, accomplices or just in the wrong place at the wrong time (again)?
A new study of stocks with high hedge fund ownership claims that something fishy is going on at the end of every month.

Currency hedge funds found to outperform a random walk
Currency markets basically follow a random walk. But according to a new study, the returns from currency hedge funds are anything but random.

Bonfire of the Valuations: Trading distressed private equity
The mid-2000s were quite the party for the private equity crowd. But the morning after, they woke up to too much debt on too few revenues, highballs combined with high-balled growth. So who gets to clean up the mess?

Asian hedge funds dropping their shorts?
For the past few years, the proportion of "long-only" hedge funds in Asia has been rising steadily. This, as the proportion of long/short hedge funds falls in tandem.

Study finds that factor timing isn't actually a huge source of hedge fund alpha
In the never-ending search for the source of hedge fund alpha, some have looked to factor timing. But a new study suggest that this, like many other possible explanations, falls short of explaining the hedge fund secret sauce.

Climate Change: A core part of strategic asset allocation or an "extra-financial" distraction?
A recent Mercer report proposes a way to integrate climate change into financial decision-making. Could this finally move climate change from the social agenda to the financial agenda?

After an exhaustive search that spanned several countries, I am happy to report that we have finally found AllAboutAlpha.com's next editor. I'll continue to make regular appearances on these pages, but will soon be handing over editorial and operational control of AllAboutAlpha.com to one of the industry's most articulate, knowledgeable and insightful commentators. Who? Stay tuned to AllAboutAlpha.com for an official announcement in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the candle continues to burn at both ends at the AAA World Headquarters. In early March, I met with readers in Dubai at Hedge Funds World Middle East. If you are interested in sovereign wealth funds, this is a great part of the world to visit. After a brief stop back home, I headed for Hong Kong for Fund Forum Asia to moderate a few alternative investment panels. Following that, I joined nearly 100 CAIA members and candidates at a sold-out event at Singapore's Tower Club for the second in CAIA's "Roundtable" Series in the city-state.

Next up, Institutional Investor's "Alpha Hedge" in Bermuda (formerly MARHedge) May 1-3 followed by our favorite on the conference calendar, the Global Absolute Return Congress London on May 9-11, which features some of the world's leading academics and central bank advisers. If you're based in London, I'd recommend you try to attend.

Stay tuned for more on my successor in the coming weeks. Until then,

Happy Alpha Hunting,

Chris

Christopher Holt

Managing Editor

AllAboutAlpha.com

April 26, 2011