Toy Boats In A Hurricane
With stocks, oil and other markets down sharply for the year, the investors were not surprised by all the negative talk.
“It’s trotting out the party line,” said an adviser to wealthy families. “The bulls would be everywhere if the market were up 50 percent.”
“I’ve never seen the place at such a loss,” added another large investor about hedge fund managers who presented. “They’re all cautious.”
Despite the frustration, there was little evidence of investors pulling out of hedge funds.
Michael Oliver Weinberg, chief investment strategist at investment firm Protégé Partners, said he still saw pockets of opportunity.
“There are plenty of exciting ways to produce returns despite the turbulent markets,” he said.
Weinberg, who declined to discuss conference specifics, said he likes strategies such as those that use computer-driven quantitative analysis; bets on the relative value of bonds; and stock picking in Asia.
Broadly, global hedge fund assets hit record highs in 2015, nearly $3 trillion. Recent surveys of institutional investors such as pension plans have shown that they plan to maintain or add to their hedge fund portfolios.
One hedge fund marketer at the event said investors were worried about when to invest, not if.