This year’s top 10 stories included a peek into AustralianSuper’s international equities build out in London, AMP’s move to slash employee benefits, and plenty of hard-hitting analysis of the issues that matter in institutional investment. But the real story is how readers helped shape all of that coverage.
Orbis’ Stuart Place is riding from Melbourne to the Moon and Back to fund a treatment for the “monster of a disease” that his youngest son was born with. The investment industry is rallying behind him.
Perpetual, L1 take out top awards at hedge fund night of nights
If last year’s Australian Alternative Investment Awards showed traditional and established managers encroaching on the alternatives space, Thursday’s (September 29) – held, as always, in conjunction with the Hedge Funds Rock charity night – represented something like mean reversion. Admittedly, it was Perpetual that took out the award for Best Alternative Investment Manager of the year – but nominees and winners in most other categories were more traditional fare, with nary a BlackRock, abrdn, or J.P. Morgan in sight.
Indeed, L1 Capital must have been so assured of its win for Best Listed Alternative Investment Product that it resubmitted the video it used last year when it took out the same award (and the top gong). Among most attendees, the quality of the video each manager submits is the only indicator for who might win in any given category; usually humorous, though with a handful of notable duds, very few committed the cardinal sin of not submitting one. Longreach took out the award for best video.
In the Best Emerging Managing category Sage Capital took out the major award, fending off competition from finalists Opal Capital Management and Fortlake Asset Management.
The night went ahead after significant disruption from the untimely death of Queen Elizabeth II. Originally scheduled for last Thursday (September 22), attendees were urged to “blame Albo”, not our deceased monarch, for the public holiday that threw a spanner in the works. Shifting the event required massive effort from the event’s organisers, including Kim Ivey (photo at top) and Michael Gallagher. Charities that Hedge Funds Rock supported this year included Redkite, Noro Music Therapy, Tranby, and Women’s Community Shelters.
Of course, perhaps the most important of all the awards is that for contribution of the year. Last year the gong was taken by Investor Strategy News’ erstwhile editor, Greg Bright, in recognition of his twenty-odd years of writing about the hedge fund industry. This year the award went to Nelson Lam, partner and executive director at Berkshire Global Advisors; the very first company secretary of Hedge Funds Rock when it existed as a non-profit prior to the establishment of the Alternative Future Foundation; a non-executive director of that foundation; and one of its heavyweight fund raisers. The award was presented by his wife, Catherine So.
“It’s been a real honour to be able to get involved,” Lam said in his acceptance speech. “Everybody likes to do that one thing, and this has been my one thing for the industry… It’s something that I’m very proud of. We’ve gone from basement rock bands to a formal sit-down event.”
BEST EMERGING MANAGER
– Sage Capital (winner)
– Opal Capital Management
– Fortlake Asset Management
BEST LONG SHORT EQUITY FUND
– L1 Global Opportunities Fund (winner)
– Arcadian wholesale Global Equity Long Short Fund
– Apis Global Long/Short Fund
BEST MARKET NEUTRAL FUND
– Regal Tasman Market Neutral Fund (winner)
– Totus Alpha Fund
– Perpetual Pure Equity Alpha
BEST GLOBAL MACRO AND MANAGED FUTURES FUND
– Aspect Diversified Futures Fund (winner)
– CFM IS Trends Fund
– CMF IS Trends Equity Capped Fund
BEST MULTI STRATEGY FUND
– Lucerne Alternative Investment Fund (winner)
– Perpetual Growth Opportunities Fund
– NWQ Fiduciary Fund – Class A Units
BEST ALTERNATIVE FIXED INCOME AND CREDIT FUND
– Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund (winner)
– T Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond Fund
– Perpetual Pure Credit Alpha Fund
BEST PRIVATE DEBT FUND
– Metrics Credit – Real Estate Debt Fund (winner)
– Longreach Direct Lending Fund – Class A
– Manning Monthly Income Fund
BEST SPECIALIST ESG FUND
– Martin Currie Sustainable Equity Fund – Class A (winner)
– OnePath Wholesale Sustainable Investment Australian Share Trust
– Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund
BEST GLOBAL MANAGER OPERATING IN AUSTRALIA
– Franklin Templeton (winner)
– Janus Henderson Investors
BEST SUPPORTER OF AUSTRALIAN ALTERNATIVE MANAGERS
– Boutique Capital (winner)
– EY Australia
– Longreach Alternatives
BEST LISTED ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT PRODUCT
– L1 Long Short Fund (winner)
– Regal Investment Fund
– Betashares Managed Risk Global Share Fund
BEST ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MANAGER OF THE YEAR
– Perpetual
