alternative markets update end august 2021

​August 2021 was a very good month for many asset classes. Equities in general did very well, as the S&P 500 surpassed the 4,500 mark at the end of last week. This was largely backed by surge in technology-driven stocks that have done very well since the crisis began and do not seem to slow down. There also was a substantial rebound from the continuous selloff of Chinese stocks, in particular tech stocks, as for example Alibaba surged 9% in a single day. Similarly, hedge funds also had a strong July and saw continued inflows since May 2021 during which period the AuM increased significantly to $4.32tn. Aside from inflows, the AuM was also boosted by the good performance of hedge funds, as our SMC Single Manager Cross-Asset Index is up 5.4% in July 2021. These gains largely stem from tactical trading and cryptocurrency-based strategies, while only equity strategies were down slightly. The best strategies in July focused largely on cryptocurrencies that have recovered well from their severe drop a couple of months ago. The market cap of cryptocurrencies just surpassed the $2tn mark again, largely due to the surge of altcoins. Bitcoin (BTC) is relatively low with $48k at the time of writing. Ethereum (ETH) is a lot higher, but also quite far away from its peak with being worth $3,200 currently. Other altcoins like Cardano (ADA), the now third-largest cryptocurrency, have surpassed their previous records by almost 50% already and continue to reduce the dominance of BTC and ETH. Gold, and other precious metals, that suffered in 2021 so far, have seen an upward trend over the last weeks, but they remain at relatively low levels.

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RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE VOL. 162 August 2021 Alternative Markets Update August 2021 August 2021 was a very good month for many asset classes. Equities in general did very well, as the S&P 500 surpassed the 4,500 mark at the end of last week. This was largely backed by surge in technology-driven stocks that have done very well since the crisis began and do not seem to slow down. There also was a substantial rebound from the continuous selloff of Chinese stocks, in particular tech stocks, as for example Alibaba surged 9% in a single day. Similarly, hedge funds also had a strong July and saw continued inflows since May 2021 during which period the AuM increased significantly to $4.32tn. Aside from inflows, the AuM was also boosted by the good performance of hedge funds, as our SMC Single Manager Cross-Asset Index is up 5.4% in July 2021. These gains largely stem from tactical trading and cryptocurrency-based strategies, while only equity strategies were down slightly. The best strategies in July focused largely on cryptocurrencies that have recovered well from their severe drop a couple of months ago. The market cap of cryptocurrencies just surpassed the $2tn mark again, largely due to the surge of altcoins. Bitcoin (BTC) is relatively low with $48k at the time of writing. Ethereum (ETH) is a lot higher, but also quite far away from its peak with being worth $3,200 currently. Other altcoins like Cardano (ADA), the now third-largest cryptocurrency, have surpassed their previous records by almost 50% already and continue to reduce the dominance of BTC and ETH. Gold, and other precious metals, that suffered in 2021 so far, have seen an upward trend over the last weeks, but they remain at relatively low levels. STONE MOUNTAIN CAPITAL Stone Mountain Capital is an advisory boutique established in 2012 and headquartered in London with offices Pfaeffikon in Switzerland, Dubai and Umm Al Quwain in United Arab Emirates. We are advising 30+ best in class single hedge fund and multi-strategy managers across equity, credit, and tactical trading (global macro, CTAs and volatility). In private assets, we advise 10+ sponsors and general partners across private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, capital relief trades (CRT) by structuring funding vehicles, rating advisory and private placements. As of 16th February 2021, Stone Mountain Capital has total alternative Assets under Advisory (AuA) of US$ 60.3 billion. US$ 47.6 billion is mandated in hedge funds and US$ 12.7 billion in private assets and corporate finance (private equity, venture capital, private debt, real estate, fintech). 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