Comments on: Marshall Wace - social investing, hedge fund style

By: Krishna

Krishna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:24:50 +0000

Never mind. Fit that in with “imagine”. Asians may be bad innovators, but are shrewd emulators of others’ successful strategies.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:22:13 +0000

@Akshay - both TOPS and Eureka were down, but did they underperform the market? Specifically did TOPS underperform? I also think that looking at a 1 month performance doesn’t say much, one way or the other in terms of benchmarking performance - which is why I’ve only looked at those TOPS funds that have a 3 year track record.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:19:16 +0000

@Akshay - thanks will correct typos (Clarke etc.)
@Karan - was going to write about the Alpha Network (read my mind) but thanks for the tip-off on the Trade Idea monitor…

By: Akshay

Akshay — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:10:03 +0000

MW is one of the top hedge funds in Europe. Their TOPS funds are a great innovation - infact MW Tops even IPOd in december 2006. And yes, it is designed by Anthone Clake (not Clarke) - an Oxford grad who made Partner at MW at the age of 25. Yes , clearly the youngest ever.

Also, do you mean low vol or high vol this year?? the latter for sure!! Most hefhe funds have had a turbulent period - just like the rest of the financial services industry…
Also Gautam - you are correct in pointing out the Eureka does not use the TOPS system. Eureka and MW Tops are the two flagship funds of Marshall Wace…Both funds howvere have had a hard time in 2008..both were down until end of may at least

By: admin

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:45:18 +0000

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘delude’ others?

By: Krishna

Krishna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:40:40 +0000

I would answer yes and no. Yes if we delude others take time in tracking down how someone make the big bucks. But remember the grandma’s adage -walls have ears

No if you think of the smallness of scale and the layers of bureaucracy that could scuttle even the simplest of events like the Ranbaxy open offer! Worth the risk…?

By: Karan

Karan — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:31:03 +0000

pls check out “Alpha Network” and “Trade Idea Monitor”… very much focussed on rating the sell-side…

By: admin

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:32:18 +0000

Just wanted to point out that as far as I’m aware, the Eureka Fund is a traditional fund, not driven by TOPS. Moreover, the estimated AUM for MW is not $7bn - the current figure stands closer to $15bn. In terms of a search for novelty and exclusivity - surely its easier to do so in a less developed market, with fewer players seeking alpha, than a more developed market such as the US / UK were every strategy has already been ‘done’?

By: Krishna

Krishna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:06:54 +0000

Elsewhere in the FT article there are some candid admissions too -

“Marshall Wace has not been immune to the low volatility in markets that has plagued many hedge funds this year. Wace admits that the flagship Eureka fund has performed poorly this year, rising just 3 per cent, compared to 13.3 per cent last year. Just weeks ago, a senior trader quit after the arbitrage unit that he ran lost more than 20 per cent this year, in spite of a boom in mergers….Wace admits that business has become difficult. “The industry used to be below people’s radar screens and now, due to the performance of managers, it is not,” he said.

That is not to diminish the enormity of their achievement - $7 billion AUM - Kudos!

My point is from the angle of sustenance of the strategy in my search for novelty and exclusivity that creates high entry barriers. I see none. . If Europe is tough, Asia could be tougher. With its decentralized nature of markets, it could be harder for Asian brokers and vendors to develop differentiated technologies in each market. The region, with its multiple connectivity challenged exchanges will lag the trailblazers by a wide margin.