19 Apr 2010
New York-based CTA Systematic Alpha Management has more than doubled its assets under management in the past year, from $250m in April 2009 to $530m in April 2010.
The bulk of the new money has been invested in managed accounts, which have risen dramatically in value at the firm – more than tripling from $78m in April 2009 to $270m in the past 12 months. SAM currently handles 11 managed accounts, which make up over 50% of the company’s total assets.
Among the most active allocators to the SAM trading program are a number of so-called Funds of Managed Accounts, which – as their name suggests - put together portfolios of managed accounts. In the last year, Funds of Managed Accounts have become more prominent in the alternatives sector as investors seek more control of their risks and assets. The FMA model, which involves a high degree of risk management and transparency, has been promoted in some media as a replacement for, or an evolution of, the traditional Fund of Hedge Funds model.
Unlike most CTAs, which are trend followers, SAM pursues a predominately contrarian strategy, uncorrelated to the remainder of the sector.
The bulk of the new money has been invested in managed accounts, which have risen dramatically in value at the firm – more than tripling from $78m in April 2009 to $270m in the past 12 months. SAM currently handles 11 managed accounts, which make up over 50% of the company’s total assets.
Among the most active allocators to the SAM trading program are a number of so-called Funds of Managed Accounts, which – as their name suggests - put together portfolios of managed accounts. In the last year, Funds of Managed Accounts have become more prominent in the alternatives sector as investors seek more control of their risks and assets. The FMA model, which involves a high degree of risk management and transparency, has been promoted in some media as a replacement for, or an evolution of, the traditional Fund of Hedge Funds model.
Unlike most CTAs, which are trend followers, SAM pursues a predominately contrarian strategy, uncorrelated to the remainder of the sector.
“The rise in our AUM is testament to our strategy of staying non-correlated to other CTAs,” noted Peter Kambolin, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Systematic Alpha Management.
“Our aims remain straightforward: to achieve consistent positive returns having low or negative correlation to any major equity, bond or currency markets, as well as to broad hedge fund and CTA indices,” he added.
