Praesidium, Mazi Visio lead the winners at 2007 South AfricaHedge awards
December 07, 2007
(Cape Town) The Praesidium SA Hedge Fund won
the Fund of the Year award at the second annual South AfricaHedge Awards last
night held at a gala dinner at the Westin Grand Arabella Quays in central Cape
Town attended by more than 250 people. Praesidium, run by Mike Beamish, Greg
Bergh and St John Bungey in Cape Town, achieved a solid risk-adjusted return of
67.87% on an annualized Sharpe ratio of 4.24, also winning the award for the
country’s Best Long/Short Fund.
The awards,
presented by London-headquartered HedgeFund Intelligence, celebrate the best risk-adjusted
returns among South African hedge funds for the 12 months to the end of October
2007. HedgeFund Intelligence publishes the monthly South AfricaHedge magazine, part
of its stable of five publications focusing on the global hedge fund industry.
"It has
been a difficult year in volatile markets, but the very strong performance we
are seeing amongst South African hedge fund managers show a healthy industry
that is delivering on its promise to offer positive returns to investors while
protecting against downward swings in the market,” said Gwyneth Roberts, editor
of South AfricaHedge.
Mazi Visio,
the Johannesburg-based joint venture between Malungelo Zilimbola’s Mazi Capital
and Visio Capital, headed by Patrice Moyale, won the Market Neutral and
Quantitative Category, with a return of 51.01% on a Sharpe ratio of 4.18. Mazi
Visio also won the award for Best New Fund.
The Fixed
Income category was won by Johannesburg-based KADD Capital, for its Validus Fund,
with a return of 26.48% on an annualized Sharpe of 4.52.
In
Multi-Strategy, the award went to Bluebay’s Mayflower fund, headed by Uys Meyer
and Richard Pitt in Cape Town, with a return of 42.21% on a Sharpe of 4.35.
In the Fund
of Hedge Fund category, the award went to Edge Capital for its Iconic Matador fund,
which returned 32.23% in the 12 months to the end of September on a Sharpe of
5.03.
The awards
are based on data submitted to the South AfricaHedge league tables. The awards dinner,
attended by 270 people, followed the first South AfricaHedge Symposium, a
one-day event focusing on the issues affecting the local hedge fund industry.
"The South
African hedge fund industry is still relatively small by global standards but
it is growing and developing at a rapid pace. The risk-adjusted returns of
funds in this market compare very well with those of their peers in the more
mature markets of Europe and the US,” said Nick Evans, editor of HedgeFund
Intelligence’s EuroHedge title.
The
complete list of nominees and winners by category was:
MARKET NEUTRAL Presented by Investec
Prime Broking
Nominees:
Cadiz Sapphire; Fairtree Exchequer; Investec IEB Absolute Return; Mazi Visio; Salient
Quants SA Hedge Fund
**WINNER** Mazi Visio
FIXED INCOME Presented by Rand
Merchant Bank
Nominees:
Coronation Granite Fixed Income Fund; GEN-X Fixed Income; RMBAM Proton Fund;
South Easter Fixed Interest; Validus Fund
**WINNER** Validus Fund
LONG SHORT EQUITY Presented by
Credit Suisse Standard Securities
Nominees:
36ONE; Cadiz Emerald; Investec IEB High Growth; Oakmont; Praesidium SA Hedge
**WINNER** Praesidium SA Hedge
MULTI-STRATEGY Presented by Cadiz
Securities
Nominees:
Aeon Multi-Strategy; Clear Horizon Multi-Strategy; Mayflower; Mergence Africa
**WINNER** Bluebay Mayflower
BEST NEW FUND Presented by Investec
Equity Derivatives
Nominees:
BoE Alpha; i capital nitrogen; Mazi Visio; Praesidium Structured Finance;
Salient Quants
**WINNER** Mazi Visio
FUND OF FUNDS Presented by Absa
Capital
Nominees:
Alpha Opportunistic; Blue Ink Redwood; Blue Ink Blue Sky; Iconic Matador; Legae
Cluster; Legae Supernova
**WINNER** Iconic Matador
FUND OF THE YEAR Presented by
Maitland
Nominees:
36ONE; Bluebay Mayflower; Investec IEB High Growth; Mazi Visio; Praesidium SA Hedge
**WINNER** Praesidium SA Hedge
Background & Decision Criteria
The aim of
the South AfricaHedge Awards is to recognise those South African hedge funds
that have produced the best risk-adjusted returns over a 12-month period with
awards being presented across a variety of strategy areas.
To be
considered for an award, funds must submit performance data to the South
AfricaHedge Database, and have at least a 12-month track record history. The
only exception to this rule is for new fund awards where we only require a
minimum six-month track history; for this award, funds launched during the 18
months prior to the event will be considered, taking into account their whole
performance history to date.
Winners are
decided using an established methodology based upon a combination of Sharpe Ratios
and returns over the relevant time period (see below). Nominations are decided
by those funds that achieve the strongest Sharpe Ratios over 12 months, so long
as they also beat the median returns in their relevant peer groups.
The
eventual winners will be funds that achieve the best returns, as long as they
also achieve Sharpe Ratios within 25% of the best of the nominees.
Most of the
main award categories require a minimum asset level of at least $5 million. An exception
is the new fund category where there is no formal minimum asset size. For
overall Fund of the Year: we will take into account the winners of all the
various categories, as well any other funds with exceptional performance that
may have missed out on other awards by being narrowly outside the range on
Sharpe Ratio. Nominees for Fund of the Year will not be announced until the
evening of the event.
The South
AfricaHedge Awards year runs from the start of November 2006 through the end of
October 2007 for single-manager funds. Fund of funds data is from the start of
October 2006 to end September 2007. Provisional nominations are released in
mid-October, and final nominations in the second week of November after all
October performance data has been submitted to South AfricaHedge. The Fund of
the Year nominees will not be announced until the night of the awards.
About South AfricaHedge and
HedgeFund Intelligence
South
AfricaHedge is published by HedgeFund Intelligence, the leading provider of
news, analysis and performance data on the global hedge fund industry.
For more
information contact:
Gwyneth
Roberts, Editor, South AfricaHedge
groberts@hedgefundintelligence.com
Phone:
0769040409
