Quantedge Capital, established in 2006 by Leow Kah Shin and Chua Choong Tze, came out on top of the global macro charts for 2010 according to BlooPARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Quantedge Capital, established in 2006 by Leow Kah Shin and Chua Choong Tze, came out on top of the global macro charts for 2010 according to Bloomberg, who reported this week that the firm now intends to double its hedge fund assets to USD200million by year-end. As a strategy, global macro failed to hit the heights last year, averaging no more than 3.1 per cent as of end-November according to Hedge Fund Research. Over that same twelve-month period, the Quantedge Global Fund, which uses quantitative statistical modeling to establish positions, generated returns of 67 per cent and was up 80 per cent for 2010. Leow told Bloomberg that he expected the fund’s assets, valued at USD75million as of December 30th, to exceed USD100million this quarter. The fund began its life managing the founders’ personal money as well as that of friends and family. Now, family offices and HNW individuals will be approached, along with some funds of funds that, according to Leow, “understand the need to accept short-term volatility in exchange for strong long-term capital growth”. Given the fund’s penchant for short-term volatility, Leow said: “Since inception, our monthly volatility is about 10 per cent, which means once a quarter, investors should expect to see a double-digit return, be it positive or negative.” Major gains in the fund last year were achieved by betting on rising government bond prices in the UK, US, Germany, Japan, Korea and Australia. Strong commodity prices (precious metals, agriculture) also contributed to the fund’s stellar performance.