UBS has launched a portfolio that invests solely in hedge funds led by women, in an effort to improve diversity and spot hidden talent in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
The Swiss bank’s asset management arm launched the Carmen portfolio in recent weeks after trials, said people familiar with the matter. It will aim to pick around 10-to-15 funds globally where a woman has sole or joint discretion over the investment of the assets.
The launch comes at a time of growing investor interest in women- and minority-run funds, with US pension plans and other large allocators increasingly looking to make investments based on environmental, social and governance criteria.
The late Yale endowment fund chief investment officer David Swensen last year wrote to external investment managers, saying it was looking for “a level of diversity in investment management firms that reflects the diversity in the world in which we live”.
Female representation in hedge funds, at 18.6 per cent, is the second-lowest across seven alternative asset classes, according to data group Preqin, and fell marginally over the past year. Women represent 10.9 per cent of senior employees at hedge funds, a slight increase on the previous year.
UBS declined to comment specifically on the launch of the Carmen portfolio but Claire Tucker, senior investment officer at UBS’s fund of hedge funds unit, said women had been “under-represented, particularly on the investment side, despite a lack of evidence justifying that by skill or performance differences”.
Hedge funds run by women were able to limit losses better than those run by men during last spring’s market plunge, while also profiting from the subsequent market rebound.
However, this year they have lagged the wider industry, which has profited from strong gains in equity markets and other risky assets. The HFR Women Access index has gained 6.5 per cent in the first half, while the HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite is up 9.2 per cent.
Among those to do well is Leda Braga’s Systematica, whose $4.4bn Alternative Markets fund is up around 14 per cent, according to numbers sent to investors. Lan Wang Simond’s Mandarin Offshore fund is up 3.2 per cent.
“It has been a particularly strong environment for hedge funds in general, with [the first half of the year] reported to be the strongest in history, so it’s not surprising to see the women-run funds which have historically exhibited more robustness in down markets lag slightly”, said Russell Barlow, global head of alternative investment strategies at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
UBS’s launch comes after Aberdeen Standard Investments last year announced it would debut a fund that tracks the performance of an index of women-run hedge funds constructed by data group HFR.
UBS’s portfolio will be actively managed, using quantitative and other analysis to select funds to invest in. UBS has built a database of more than 340 women who are sole or joint managers or, in the case of computer-driven funds, have significant influence over the research behind the fund’s algorithms.
“Women-led funds struggle to attract as much capital as male-led peers,” said UBS’s Tucker, although noting “there has been an increase in client interest in diversity”.
Hedge fund strategies such as macro and fixed income relative value tend to have fewer female portfolio managers, according to UBS.
Tucker said the firm had been “asking more difficult questions [of hedge funds], such as: ‘Why are there no women on the investment team?’” It also plans to help women who run part of a hedge fund but are not the main fund manager launch their own portfolios by providing initial capital.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
