DragonBack AUM
Hong Kong Hedge Fund, DragonBack, Sees AUM Fall 85%
A Hong Kong hedge fund has been hit hard after investors completed mass withdrawals cutting assets dramatically. DragonBack's two hedge funds now manage just $45 million after a peak of $600 million--an 85% drop! Interestingly, only one of the funds has had negative performance YTD with the VolAsia fund returning 0.5%. This suggests that investors may not be satisfied with even small gains and are turning to other funds that are generating more impressive returns, or simply a dissatisfaction with the manager. The hedge fund's manager, Robert Lance, said of the drop, "The AUM gods giveth and they taketh away."
Last year at this time, assets in the fund were at $316 million, falling to $187 million by year end, DragonBack Asia Chief Executive Robert Lance told Reuters on Friday.
"We've met all the redemption requests, never put up any gates, no side pockets and remained very transparent throughout this process," he said.
Lance said the redemption cycle for DragonBack started later than it did for the rest of the industry. The hedge fund manager closed its flagship Asia-Pacific Equity Multistratgy Fund to new investments in August 2008 while assets peaked at close to $600 million by October.
The fund's long volatility strategy flourished as global markets went into a tizzy during the financial crisis, helping it gain 3.75 percent in 2008, placing it in an exclusive club of hedge funds that made money in 2008.
Investors began pulling their money out in the first quarter of 2009, said Lance and redemptions have been quite consistent ever since. Source
Related to: DragonBack AUM
Tags: DragonBack Hedge Fund, Assets Under Management, Total AUM, Hedge Fund Withdrawals, Investors, Investors Pull Assets, Close
