Hedge Funds

Regulation
The hedge fund industry is lightly regulated, with the majority of funds domiciled in offshore jurisdictions. Hedge funds are generally classified as “unregulated” and are not typically subject to the same levels of scrutiny and protection as a traditional investment fund. A thorough due diligence process can mitigate these concerns.

Gating
In event that redemptions requests on a particular dealing date are much higher than the normal level and full satisfaction would jeopardise the longer term portfolio balance, a gate or partial execution of redemption requests may be implemented generally on a pro-rata basis.

Side pocket
There may be instances when certain assets in a fund portfolio could become less liquid and the fund manager may segregate these illiquid positions from the main portfolio into a side pocket (or a separate vehicle).

Suspension of redemption
Suspension of redemption is a temporary halt in exiting the fund during a given redemption window. This is a stronger measure than gating because there is no dealing for the fund. This is generally used under special circumstances such as when liquidity conditions have markedly deteriorated in a short period of time or when there are heavy asset outflow such as the loss of a core investor.

Access
Hedge funds operate larger investment minima than traditional investment funds. Investors are often unable to access a hedge fund unless they were willing to invest USD500,000 to USD2m.

Transparency
Many hedge fund managers are wary of regularly publishing their positions in the belief that this will remove any advantage that they have over their peers. This can pose a problem to the investor, as he or she cannot be certain to which stocks, geographies, markets or even strategies he or she will be exposed to when investing in the hedge fund. However, trusted investors who have built strong relationships with the hedge funds can access this information for the majority of funds, enabling thorough monitoring of the investment.

Liquidity
Hedge funds typically have much longer dealing cycles than traditional investment funds. Depending on the strategy being utilised, a hedge fund may only allow subscriptions and redemptions on a monthly or quarterly basis. Furthermore, some hedge funds have long lock-up periods, where an investor is not permitted to redeem from the hedge fund unless a period of 6 months, a year or even 2 years has passed. Some may allow a redemption before the lock-up period is over, but the investor would have to pay a hefty penalty to be able to do this.

Manager failure
Over time, a number of hedge funds will close or fail, due to weak performance or operational difficulties. An investor must take this into consideration before making an investment, seeking professional advice to help minimise the risk of investing in a fund that is likely to fail.

The risk factors listed above are not exhaustive. 

Investors in alternatives products should bear in mind that these products can be highly speculative and may not be suitable for all clients. Investors should ensure they understand the features of the products and fund strategies and the risks involved before deciding whether or not to invest in such products. Such investments are generally intended for investors who are willing to bear the risks associated with such investments, which can include: loss of all or a substantial portion of the investment, lack of liquidity in that there may be no secondary market for the fund and none may be expected to develop; volatility of returns; prohibitions and/or material restrictions on transferring interests in the fund; absence of information regarding valuations and pricing; delays in tax reporting; key man and adviser risk; limited or no transparency to underlying investments; limited or no regulatory oversight and less regulation and higher fees than mutual funds.

Please note that alternatives related investments are generally illiquid, long term investments that do not display the liquid or transparency characteristics often found in other investments (e.g. listed securities). It can take time for money to be invested and for investments to produce returns after initial losses. As such alternatives related investments should be considered as a very high risk investment and are only suitable as part of a diversified portfolio. Before making such investments, prospective investors should carefully consider the risks set forth in the relevant investment documents.

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