Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Best Hedge Fund You've Never Heard Of

From Turnkey Analyst:
The graphic below highlights the performance of the biggest names in the hedge fund business. Their historical survivor-bias-filled track record is amazing.
topmgr
Source: Alpha Titans
Just how amazing is the performance?
Not really that amazing.
Below I highlight the performance of a portfolio that takes $1 and invests it in 10-year bonds. The portfolio then borrows $1.50 and allocates 25cents to the S&P 500 and $1.25 in the 10-year.   I assume the cost of borrow is the t-bill rate+30bps (funding spread). Effectively, you have a 2.25x 10-year position and 25% S&P 500 allocation, or a gross 2.50x lever.  The performance over the past ~16.03 years (4/1/1997 to 7/31/2013)  is presented below (trying to mirror the period for the stats above):
Passive HF
  • 15%+ CAGR
  • 16.84% MaxDD
  • ~0 correlation with common equity benchmarks
  • Fully transparent; no lockups; no fraud risk; no K1s; no due diligence; no skill
...MORE