The document summarizes the key findings of J.P. Morgan's 2014 Investor Sentiments Report, which surveyed nearly 300 institutional investors about their hedge fund investment activity and outlook. Some of the main points include:
- Event driven and long/short equity strategies were most popular in 2013, while macro and managed futures strategies saw redemptions.
- Pension funds represented the fastest growing group of hedge fund investors, increasing allocations the most of any sector.
- Most investors plan to maintain or increase hedge fund investments in 2014 and are more open to investing in new hedge fund launches and longer-lockup "hybrid" funds.
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JPM Prime Brokerage 2014 Institutional Investor Sentiments Report
1. J.P. Morgan Prime Brokerage 2014 Investor Sentiments Report
1
This material is provided by J.P. Morgan’s Prime Brokerage business for informational purposes only. It is not a product of J.P. Morgan’s Research Departments.
For Institutional Investors only. For the intended recipient only. The reference period for this publication is 2013 unless otherwise stated.
March 28, 2014
Investor Sentiments Report
While hedge funds performed better in 2013 than they did
during the prior year, the industry found itself under some
investor scrutiny as it still broadly underperformed the roaring
developed equity markets. With the S&P 500 up 32.4% last
year, hedge fund managers realized they were not only being
compared to their peers but also to equity indices in general.
As a result of positive economic data in the U.S. and Asia,
improving economic sentiment globally, and continued bond
buying by the Federal Reserve, developed market equities in
the U.S., Europe and Japan were the best performing asset
classes in 2013 (See Figure 1). Macro concerns including
tensions in the Middle East centered on Egypt and Syria,
heightened volatility in emerging markets, and China’s
interbank market liquidity crunch, while notable, were not
enough to halt the booming equity markets. To help gauge
hedge fund industry trends and investment behavior, J.P.
Morgan’s Capital Introduction Group completed its eleventh
annual survey (“the Survey”) of nearly 300 of the world’s
leading institutional investors. The Survey was based on hedge
fund investment activity in 2013 and revealed a number of key
findings:
• We expect the hedge fund industry to continue to grow,
as 97% of respondents plan to maintain or increase the
number of their hedge fund investments in 2014.
• Pensions appear to be the fastest growing investor
segment as respondents increased their allocation to
Hedge Funds; the most of any investor sector in 2013.
• Event Driven was the preferred strategy of 2013, with
72% of respondents invested in the space as compared to
61% in 2012.
• While respondents continue to focus on liquidity, an
overwhelming majority are willing to accept a lock-up
period of one year or more. Interest in hybrid/illiquid
opportunities as well as hedge fund co-investment
vehicles continues to grow.
• Investors are more interested and willing to invest in new
launches, with nearly 70% of respondents indicating they
invested in a start-up manager in 2013 compared to 60%
in 2012.
• Despite an increase in customized product offerings and
further evolution within the fund of funds industry,
Survey respondents continued to decrease allocations to
fund of funds for the fifth straight year. Most
respondents indicated redemptions were due to
performance or reallocating capital to direct hedge fund
investments.
The hedge fund industry continues to experience growth,
ending the year with a record high of $2.63 trillion in total
capital (See Figure 2). Much of that growth, however, was
attributed to performance rather than net asset flows. The
hedge fund industry saw $63.7 billion of net asset flows in
2013, nearly double the amount that entered the space in
20121
.
Figure 1. 2013 Hedge fund performance versus developed market
equity indices
Source: HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report and Bloomberg
Figure 2. Estimated growth of assets and net asset flows
Assets in $Millions
Source: HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report
Even in the midst of a five year bull run in the U.S. equity
market, institutional investors remain committed to the hedge
fund industry. According to the Survey, 97% of respondents
made new allocations to hedge funds in 2013 and expect to
maintain or increase exposure in 2014. While the majority of
new allocations were funded with capital returned from
redemptions and lifted gates, investors more actively made
1
HFR Hedge Fund Research, HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report - Year End 2013,
January 21, 2014 (“HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report”).
9%
32%
24%
59%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
HFRI Fund
Weighted
Composite
S&P 500 MSCI Europe Nikkei
($500,000)
($250,000)
$0
$250,000
$500,000
$750,000
$1,000,000
$1,250,000
$1,500,000
$1,750,000
$2,000,000
$2,250,000
$2,500,000
$2,750,000
$3,000,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Net Asset Flow Estimated Assets
2. 2014 Investor Sentiments Report – J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group
2
This material is provided by J.P. Morgan’s Prime Brokerage business for informational purposes only. It is not a product of J.P. Morgan’s Research Departments.
For Institutional Investors only. For the intended recipient only. The reference period for this publication is 2013 unless otherwise stated.
allocations from new capital sources rather than allocating
away from other asset classes (See Figure 3).
Figure 3. Sources of capital for new hedge fund allocations
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
A large contributor to the growth of the hedge fund industry in
2013 was the pension segment (See Figure 4). Assets invested
in hedge funds by defined benefit plans grew faster than any
other large alternative investment asset class in the year ended
September 30th, 2013. The combined $150 billion total of
direct hedge fund and hedge funds-of-funds investments from
the 200 largest U.S. retirement funds represents a 10.3% rise
from the prior year2
. Not only is the number of pension plans
(both public and private) investing in hedge funds growing,
the investor segment also typically makes the largest
allocations, on average, amongst Survey respondents. On
average, 88% of Pensions allocate more than $25 million per
hedge fund investment. A number of the largest institutional
investors actively investing in hedge funds are public or
corporate pension plans.
Figure 4. Pensions AUM in hedge funds as a percentage of overall
hedge fund industry assets (2011 -2013)
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2012-
2014
In response to mediocre hedge fund returns in 2012, especially
when compared to U.S. equity markets, institutional investors
2
Pension & Investments, Healthy growth of hedge fund assets continuing among DB
plans, February 3, 2014,
http://www.pionline.com/article/20140203/PRINT/302039997/healthy-growth-of-hedge-
fund-assets-continuing-among-db-plans.
entered 2013 in search of managers who had longer-biased
strategies that could participate in risk assets’ ongoing rally.
Investors also hoped they could find managers that could
generate alpha, even in the midst of market uncertainty. As
previously stated, institutional investors, in general, did not
redeem capital from the hedge fund industry; however, they
did reduce their exposure to underperforming managers and
strategies. In the first half of 2013, a number of allocators
rotated out of CTA/Managed Futures, Global Macro,
Commodities and Credit strategies, reallocating capital to
Fundamental Long Short Equity and Event Driven strategies.
According to Hedge Fund Research (“HFR”), approximately
$6.3 billion flowed out of macro strategies in 2013, over three
quarters of the outflows from systematic strategies3
. Multiple
years of poor performance and an inability to recover lost high
water marks prompted further redemptions from
CTA/Managed Futures (See Figure 5). Increased flows out of
Emerging Markets, unruly weather and recent super-storms
impacted pricing and volatility in the commodity space, a
strategy that had another underperforming year in 2013. With
the Federal Reserve continuing its bond buying program
throughout the year and maintaining low interest rate forward
guidance, the search for yield remained one of the overarching
themes of 2013. A significant portion of Survey respondents
reduced their exposure to credit-oriented strategies as spreads
grew increasingly narrow. Long Short Equity and Event
Driven strategies were the beneficiaries of those reallocated
flows (See Figure 6).
Figure 5. Strategies in which institutional investors reduced
exposures in 2013
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
3
HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report.
73%
65%
49%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Redeployed Capital from
Returned Redemptions and
Lifted Gates
New Capital Reallocated Capital from
Other Asset Classes in
Portfolio
6%
11%
16%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2011 2012 2013
15%
9%
8%
8%
7%
6%
6%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
0%
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%
CTAs/Managed Futures
Global Macro
Commodities
Credit: Long Short
Credit: Structured
Credit: Distressed
Credit: HighYield
Emerging Markets
Fixed Income Arbitrage
Long Short Equity: Fundamental
Credit: Multi-Strategy
Long Short Equity: MarketNeutral
Multi-Strategy
ConvertibleArbitrage
Volatility Arbitrage
Fund ofFunds
Event Driven
Activism
Hybrid/IlliquidOpportunities
Long Short Equity: Sector
Long Short Equity: Quantitative
Long Short Equity: Short Biased
Short Only: Equity
Long Only: FixedIncome
Long Only: Equity
3. 2014 Investor Sentiments Report – J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group
3
This material is provided by J.P. Morgan’s Prime Brokerage business for informational purposes only. It is not a product of J.P. Morgan’s Research Departments.
For Institutional Investors only. For the intended recipient only. The reference period for this publication is 2013 unless otherwise stated.
Figure 6. Strategies in which institutional investors increased
exposures in 2013
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
To further enhance returns in their hedge fund portfolios,
many institutional investors not only strategically changed
strategy exposures in 2013, but also began to venture off the
typical hedge fund path, directing their attention to longer
lock-up/hybrid opportunities as well as co-investment
vehicles. Hybrid funds, or longer-lock vehicles, began
emerging as a trend among institutional investors in late 2012
and grew more prominent last year. Hybrid funds are designed
to eliminate the asymmetry between structure and strategy by
using longer, private equity-like lock-up periods while
retaining other hedge fund characteristics4
. Although
institutional investors remain focused on liquidity, several
groups have considered the idea of investing in hybrid funds
in order to potentially increase portfolio return potential.
According to the Survey, over 50% of respondents invested in
a hybrid fund in 2013. Pensions, consultants, and insurance
companies represent the groups most willing to allocate to
these vehicles (See Figure 7).
Figure 7. Institutional investors that invest in hybrid funds
Source: J.P. Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
4
J.P. Morgan Prime Brokerage Perspectives, The New Convergence: Hybrid Hedge Fund
Structures and Longer-Biased Strategies, March 7, 2013.
Many allocators have also realized that having access to a
manager’s high-conviction ideas while paying lower fees
could potentially lead to higher returns, hence the recent
emergence of co-investment structures within the hedge fund
industry. Although co-investments have long been a staple
component of the private equity world, they have emerged in
the hedge fund industry only more recently5
. 52% of Survey
respondents indicated a willingness to partake in hedge fund
co-investment opportunities in 2013, typically alongside
managers of whose flagship funds they already invest in (See
Figure 8). Access to unique opportunities, reduced fee
structures, alignment of interests with the management team,
and enhanced transparency are only some of the incentives
currently grabbing the interest of prospective investors. Co-
investment structures have emerged more frequently among
equity managers with activist-oriented strategies as well as
from credit-oriented managers that invest in less liquid,
longer-duration assets, including various credits, special
situations, reorganizations and capital structure arbitrage.
Figure 8. Institutional investor interest in participating in a co-
investment opportunity in 2013
Source: J.P. Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
New hedge fund launches continued to gain interest from
investors in 2013, as allocators were hopeful these fund
managers with unique strategy opportunities would be more
eager and better positioned to outperform broader market
indices. Although institutional investors continue to allocate
capital to established managers with greater than $5 billion in
AUM, interest has grown for emerging hedge funds with
assets of less than $100 million (See Figure 9).
5
J.P. Morgan Prime Brokerage Perspectives, Aligning Interests: The Emergence of
Hedge Fund Co-Investment Vehicles, First Quarter 2014.
60%
42%
27%
22%
19%
18%
18%
16%
16%
14%
13%
12%
11%
9%
8%
6%
5%
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
3%
1%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Long Short Equity: Fundamental
Event Driven
Global Macro
Long Short Equity: Sector
Multi-Strategy
Activism
Credit: Structured
Long Short Equity: MarketNeutral
Credit: Distressed
Credit: Long Short
Long Only: Equity
Credit: Multi-Strategy
Long Short Equity: Quantitative
Fixed Income Arbitrage
Emerging Markets
Hybrid/IlliquidOpportunities
Credit: HighYield
CTAs/Managed Futures
Volatility Arbitrage
ConvertibleArbitrage
Commodities
Long Short Equity: Short Biased
Fund of Funds
Long Only: FixedIncome
Short Only: Equity
43%
29%
76%
39%
49%
29%
17%
33%
57%
71%
24%
61%
43%
71%
83%
67%
8%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Bank Consultant Endowment
&
Foundation
Family
Office
Fund of
Funds
Insurance
Company
Pension Registered
Investment
Advisor
No Yes No, but plan to invest in this type of product in 2014
32%
42%
48%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Yes, in new vehicles
launched totake
advantage ofspecific
opportunities
Yes, alongside hedgefunds
currently invested with
No
Yes
52%
No
48%
4. 2014 Investor Sentiments Report – J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group
4
This material is provided by J.P. Morgan’s Prime Brokerage business for informational purposes only. It is not a product of J.P. Morgan’s Research Departments.
For Institutional Investors only. For the intended recipient only. The reference period for this publication is 2013 unless otherwise stated.
Figure 9. Distribution of net asset flows by firm AUM tier
Net asset flows in $Millions
Source: HFR Year End 2012 Industry Report6
and HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report
2014 may shape up to be one of the most active years for
hedge fund launches since before the financial crisis. That is
due to a combination of factors, including experienced hedge
fund teams planning to start their own firms, ready seed
money from larger alternative investment managers, more
spinouts of bank hedge fund and proprietary trading units from
Volcker rule requirements, and institutional investors'
increasing readiness to invest with managers with smaller
AUMs and shorter track records. Many of the largest hedge
fund managers have closed their funds to new investors, thus
pushing talented managers to start their own firms and
encouraging investors to look for new hedge funds to invest
in, either to meet asset allocation targets or upgrade within
current strategies7
.
Institutional investors, even those that have not considered
new hedge fund launches in the past, are increasingly
interested in learning about new entrants into the industry.
According to the Survey, nearly 70% of respondents are
willing to invest in a start-up manager. When considering such
an investment, Survey respondents highlighted fee discounts
and founder’s share class offerings as the most important
concessions required for an initial capital allocation.
Consultants (most likely driven by client-demand) and Family
Offices have exhibited the most notable increases in new
launch appetite year-over-year, with roughly 19% and 18%
more respondents, respectively, willing to invest in start-up
managers in 2013 than in 2012 (See Figure 10). Although
consultants are willing to look at new launch, they must have
conviction that the manager will grow to allow for larger
allocations.
6
HFR Hedge Fund Research, HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report - Year End
2012, January 18, 2013 (“HFR Year End 2012 Industry Report”).
7
Pension & Investments, Great year anticipated for hedge fund startups, January 20,
2014, http://www.pionline.com/article/20140120/PRINT/301209982/great-year-
anticipated-for-hedge-fund-startups.
Figure 10. Investments in Start-up Manager by Investor Type
(2012 – 2014 Expected)
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
Consultants and family offices are by no means the only
institutional investor groups targeting new launches. In 2013,
a majority of fund of funds continued to focus on emerging
manager vehicles, some of which provide seed capital, to
capitalize on interest expressed by their underlying clients in
start-ups. This is just one step, of many, that fund of funds
have taken since the financial crisis to retain and grow
business.
Despite the evolution of the fund of funds industry with
several groups adapting their business models in order to
better serve their clients (customized products, advisory
services predominantly for manager selection, investment due
diligence, and research), the segment is continuing to
consolidate. While fund of fund AUM has remained steady
over the last few years at roughly $645 billion, the number of
managers continues to decline as institutional investors gain a
better understanding of the alternatives space and move
towards more direct hedge fund investments (See Figure 11).
Survey respondents continued to decrease allocations to fund
of funds for the fifth straight year, indicating redemptions due
to either performance or reallocating capital to go direct.
Figure 11. Estimated number of fund of funds (2001-2013)
Source: HFR Year End 2013 Industry Report
$1,789 $504
($68)
($4,451)
($19,030)
$55,689
$4,873
$1,646
$1,130
($442)
$16,602
$39,939
($20,000)
($10,000)
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
<$100 million $100 to $250
million
$250 to $500
million
$500 million
to$1 billion
$1 to 5 billion >$5 billion
2012 2013
59%
46%
39%
53%
74%
45% 45%
50%
64% 65%
53%
72%
79%
46%
32%
63%
68%
80%
58%
67%
79%
46%
42%
63%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Bank Consultant Endowment
&Foundation
FamilyOffice Fundof
Funds
Insurance
Company
Pension Registered
Investment
Advisor
2012 2013 2014 Expected
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
5. 2014 Investor Sentiments Report – J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group
5
This material is provided by J.P. Morgan’s Prime Brokerage business for informational purposes only. It is not a product of J.P. Morgan’s Research Departments.
For Institutional Investors only. For the intended recipient only. The reference period for this publication is 2013 unless otherwise stated.
An increasing number of fund of fund groups are offering
customized, tailored products to complement their clients’
existing portfolios. 70% of fund of fund Survey participants
currently offer or expect to offer customized products in 2014.
There are those, however, that have chosen to take a different
route, keeping their businesses alive through consolidation or
merger and acquisition opportunities. According to the
Survey, fund of funds engaged in or looking for these types of
opportunities are doing so primarily to achieve size and scale
(See Figure 12).
Figure 12. Reasons for fund of funds merger and acquisition
activity
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
Consultants, like fund of funds, are experiencing similar
business pressures. As the hedge fund industry evolves and
institutional investors become more sophisticated in their
investment practices, consultants have had to expand their
coverage universe. Of those respondents who reported
working with a consultant in the Survey, 86% and 76% use
them primarily for operational due diligence and hedge fund
research, respectively (See Figure 13). The notable increase in
the amount of pensions investing directly in hedge funds has
also led to higher demand for these consultancy services.
Over half of pensions and endowments & foundations used a
consultant in 2013. Therefore, consultants have been forced to
examine strategies or segments they have not previously
looked at, including emerging managers.
Figure 13. Consulting services used by institutional investors
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
As previously stated, many institutional investors rotated in to
long short equity and event driven during 2013. Looking
ahead, this trend is expected to continue for 2014 as Survey
respondents predict that fundamental long short equity will be
the best performing strategy (See Figure 14). As the potential
for fundamentals and volatility returning to the market grows,
institutional investors are hopeful that long short equity
managers can once again generate alpha on the short side of
their portfolios in addition to the long side. Additionally, the
pickup in merger and acquisition activity has led to a renewed
interest in event driven and activist strategies of which Survey
respondents also anticipate performing well in 2014.
Figure 14. Anticipated best performing strategy in 2014
Source: J.P. Morgan Capital Introduction Group: Institutional Investor Survey, 2014
2014 may be a telling year for the hedge fund industry, as fund
managers will face continued investor inquiry as to why they
have been broadly underperforming developed equity markets.
Managers will be forced to justify high fees and long lock-ups
by generating superior risk-adjusted returns and sourcing
alpha. For now, institutional investors remain committed to
the industry, but patience is limited due to the increasing
availability of less expensive, long only investment vehicles.
10%
23%
40%
48%
75%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
GeographicalDiversification
Product Diversification
Client Diversification
Distribution
Size and Scale
86%
76%
60%
38%
29%
2%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
OperationalDue Diligence
Research
Investment Due Diligence
Portfolio Construction/ManagerSelection
Risk Management
CIOOutsourcing
1%
1%
1%
1%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
3%
3%
3%
3%
4%
4%
13%
21%
32%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Credit: Long Short
Long Short Equity: Short Biased
Credit: Distressed
Fixed Income Arbitrage
Convertible Arbitrage
Credit: Structured
Long Short Equity: Quantitative
CTAs/Managed Futures
Multi-Strategy
Long Short Equity: Sector
Emerging Markets
Hybrid/Illiquid Opportunities
Long Short Equity: Market…
Long Only: Equity
Activism
Global Macro
Event Driven
Long Short Equity: Fundamental