Category: Ethereum

Alternative Markets Update H2 2019

21/1/2020

Hedge Funds
The industry had its best year since 2013 and the average hedge fund is up more than 9%. Especially the results, which were achieved in H1, are extraordinary. H2 was more volatile, in which equity strategies did very well, while e.g. macro and cryptocurrency strategies lost compared to their results of H1 2019. When considering the economic and political environment, these results are even better, as 2019 faced many uncertainties. Noteworthy are the debate about Brexit all year, the trade war between the US and China, the attack on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia as well as the recent assassination of Iranian general Soleimani, which may have further consequences. Nevertheless, our cryptocurrency strategy remains the

most profitable strategy this year with a YTD of 82%, followed by several equity strategies and our global macro strategy. Figure 1 shows the performance of our strategies compared to several benchmarks, whereas Figure 2 shows the returns sorted by hedge fund strategy.

Figure 1: Overview of Performance of Different Hedge Fund Strategies: December 2019, Source: Stone Mountain Capital Research

Figure 2: Overview of Performance of Different Hedge Fund Strategies: January 2020, Source: Eurekahedge

Alternative Markets Update 2019 - Cryptocurrency & blockchain 2020 outlook

13/1/2020

The hedge fund industry performed strongly in 2019, as the industry achieved a steady gain of 9%, whereas several single managers beat the market and gained double digits. Despite those positive numbers, hedge funds still underperformed the equity market and the trend of the past years continues. In order to compete, hedge fund reduced their fees. In each of the last five years, more hedge funds have been shut down than launched. In total, more than 4,000 hedge funds have been liquidated in this period. 2019 was a good year, as all of our strategies yielded positive returns. Particularly strong this year were the equity strategies, especially in H1 2019 and towards the end of 2019. Furthermore, the tactical trading strategies performed even better until summer 2019, but faced losses at the end of 2019. Regarding the macroeconomic environment, the assassination of Iranian general Soleimani by the US and the counterattack of Iran on a US military base causes high uncertainty. The passenger plane, which got hit by a missile in Iran, further

increases tensions, even though the launch of the missile was likely unintentional. As a reaction of this newly escalated situation, safe haven assets, such as gold, which is now at a seven-year high, see increased demand. Similar developments were observed for Bitcoin. A cryptocurrency 2020 outlook is provided by BeQuant and a blockchain 2019 review and 2020 outlook is provided by Pantera Capital below.

Alternative Markets Update Q3 2019

24/10/2019

After strong gains during H1 2019, hedge funds remained more or less at the same level in Q3 2019. In July and August, the performance of our strategies rose about by 0.40% each, while declining in September by approximately 1.20%. When comparing the YTD of Q3, shown in Figure 1, with the results from Q2, our credit strategies gained about 1.5% and is currently at 3.61%. The equity strategies dropped by around 2.6% to a YTD of 10.14%. Tactical trading strategies suffered the most with a loss of more than 10%. However, these strategies were still the most profitable as of Q3 2019 with a YTD of 23.24%. Lastly, the fund of hedge fund strategies fell about 0.6%, currently at a YTD of 6.16%. When looking at the strategies individually, Bitcoin Altcoin Actively Managed remains at the top with a YTD of 128%, despite losses in the last three consecutive months. The Discretionary Global Macro strategy performed exceptionally well in July and August, resulting in a YTD of 58.62%.

The equity strategies suffered in the last month, however, the Long-only US Equities High Conviction and Long/Short US Equities Disruptive Technologies still have a YTD of 20.72%, 18% respectively. Our volatility strategy achieved a YTD of 15.93% and never dipped below -0.5% on monthly performance level.

Overview of Performance of Different Hedge Fund Strategies: September 2019, Source: Stone Mountain Capital Research

2019 Q3 Hedge Fund Performance of our Strategies compared with Benchmarks, Source: Stone Mountain Capital Research

Alternative Markets Update H1 2019

30/7/2019

Alternative Markets Update H1 2019

Hedge Funds
After the difficulties for hedge funds in 2018, 2019 started strong, despite the current uncertainties, such as the Brexit, the European elections and the trade war. Only in May, there were some difficulties. This short downturn was offset and more than compensated in June, which yielded extraordinary results. Our best performing strategy was the cryptocurrency strategy, followed by US equity disruptive technology and US equity high conviction. The best performing asset class was tactical trading, which achieved a 30.78% YTD, as shown in figure 1. Furthermore, all strategies had positive return in H1 2019.

Figure 1: Overview of Performance of Different Hedge Fund Strategies: June 2019, Source: Stone Mountain Capital Research

Alternative Markets Update July 2019

12/7/2019

Alternative Markets Update July 2019

Hedge funds have achieved their best half year within the last decade, despite the controversies about hedge funds in the last year. Hedge funds overall have gained 5.7% since January 2019. Especially the month June was profitable, as hedge fund managers achieved a performance of 1.82%, which originates from a strong equity market. As of the beginning of July, only the long volatility strategy yielded negative returns, while the equity long bias strategy realized the highest gain with 10.56% in 2019 as per the Eurekahedge report below.

Figure 1: Hedge Fund Strategy Return Map, Source: Eurekahedge July 2019

Alternative Markets Update - Macro And Political Outlook June 2019

13/6/2019

Alternative Markets Update June 2019

June started in a more dynamic fashion for hedges funds are already recouped May’s losses. The anticipation of an interest rate cut this year as a result of Fed’s announcements resulted to a strong bounce back for equity markets. Equity hedge strategies profited the most during the first weeks of June, a month that so far is characterised by the trade war discussions and further tariff plans from US. Macro and CTA strategies had their bets right so far this month and they are waiting to capitalise on future volatility events. Bitcoin’s momentum slowed down in June and its price has receded from $8,740 to $7,900, reaching a market cap of $140bn. Ethereum had also a

slightly negative month so far and is keep following the same pattern as bitcoin.

Macro and Political Outlook June 2019 MacroEagle

Source: MacroEagle

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