Bruce-Lipnick's  Instablog

Transparency - Allows analysts to extract gain more value from position level transparency

„ Interconnectivity - Aggregates data from a variety of sources, including prime brokers, administrators, data vendors, pricing services

„ Scalability - Can expand with changes mandated by market conditions and user demands

Key System Features and Benefits

Monitor risk characteristics of multiple accounts and various strategies The platform aggregates position level data for multiple portfolios and creates reports on a single manager level as well as a portfolio level.

Combine views from a variety of disparate sources

Positions and various descriptive data are downloaded via proprietary technology that links directly to all major prime brokers. Valuations can be added from a variety of third party pricing sources.

Flexible reporting system

Reports are posted daily on a secure Internet portal. Reports can be downloaded to a user's computer, saved to a network drive or a hard drive, and printed out.

Add-on capabilities for customized analysis

Built-in ability to expand with changes mandated by market conditions and user

Comprehensive Reporting Functionality

Aggregation of holdings across prime brokers.

Reconciliation of holdings and market values between the prime brokers and managers.

Changes in holdings by sectors, instrument types, average beta, duration, etc.

Comparisons across managers showing investment and performance patterns.

Allocation and performance histories.

Distribution of reports using an Intranet

PARS software was developed in response to the global need for

increased transparency for investment management professionals. Developed and used successfully in-house by an investment organization, the software combines an expanded level of position aggregation with enhanced reporting capabilities. PARS allows risk managers to extract more value from position level transparency and thus is a valuable tool in portfolio management process.

http://www.asset.hedgecowebsites.com/documents/Risk%20System%20One%20Page_Final.pdf

Hedgeharbor Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Asset Alliance Corporation that specializes in investment placement services to institutional investors and high net worth individuals, has recently completed their Annual Global Investor Survey.

The survey was designed to gauge investors' manager and style allocation preferences, analysis procedures and identify overall trends within the hedge fund and alternative investment industry. Respondents included public and private pensions, foundations and endowments, funds of funds, private banks, investment consultants, family offices and high net worth individuals globally.

"Despite a difficult market environment in 2011, investors remain resilient in their convictions that alternatives will outperform in 2012" said Arnold Mintz, President of Asset Alliance and Global Head of Hedgeharbor, "Market challenges, however, underscore the need to engage investors with a solutions-based approach that emphasizes finding managers who not only have investment expertise and stellar track records, but also the infrastructure and capabilities to serve the changing needs and requirements of investors."

"Investors are increasingly turning to smaller managers to find performance" said Mintz, "As several large blue-chip managers faltered this year, we saw interest in managers overseeing less than $100 million under management increase significantly. The percentage of survey respondents who would be willing to look at managers with less than $25 million of assets doubled from last year's responses."

Survey questions address such topics as: favored investment strategies, anticipated future performance of certain strategies, track record and AUM requirements, methods of access, as well as various analytical factors that are most highly regarded throughout the due diligence process.

Some key survey highlights include:

§ The most respondents believe that Commodity Trading Advisors will be the best performers of 2012.

§ Investor interest in smaller managers increased greatly from last year.

§ Investors favored managed accounts over institutional platforms compared to 2010.

§ An overwhelming majority of investors believe hedge funds will outperform in the coming year, but a slightly larger percentage of investors than last year believe they will underperform traditional asset classes.

Hedgeharbor has made the results of their survey available free of charge via their website www.hedgeharbor.com/survey

• Hedgeharbor Asset Alliance Navigator Focus on Emerging Managers Conventional wisdom in the hedge fund industry-supported by much empirical evidence -suggests that emerging managers generally outperform more established managers. And yet,emerging managers still face significant impediments to raising capital compared to their larger counterparts. In this issue, we look at the case for investing in emerging managers and suggest ways to evaluate them.What is an emerging manager? have clearly outperformed mid-size and large funds. The criteria for what makes a hedge fund an emerging over the last 10 years.manager can be different for each investor. Manager Performance by Size investors would classify a manager as emerging based 180% on the age of the fund (or the management company as 160% a whole) or on the size of assets (or both). In a recent 140% publication dealing with emerging managers 1, Barclays 120% Capital defines criteria in terms of both size and age of 100% hedge funds. "Small" managers in their study are under $100 million in assets, while "new" managers have a 80%track record of less than two years. 60% 40% We agree that both size and age should be considered 20% separately when classifying emerging managers. Hedgefund managers can remain below $100 million as they 0%build their business and refine their operations. Thus,smaller emerging managers can definitely have a track Small Mid-size Large record longer than two years. At the same time, some Source: Barclays Capital and Srategic Consulting Analysis conferences that we have attended have included managers from established firms with relatively large asset levels, but with new fund vehicles. So to some The results for younger funds fit the same. pattern.extent, an emerging manager, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
• Chart 2 shows the results for managers in the three age of the beholder. categories that Barclays examines. The out performance of the category of young funds is more pronounced in The evidence for emerging manager comparison to older funds than it is for smaller out performance managers compared to larger ones.The Barclays study is typical of the empirical results regarding the performance of managers by size and by Why do emerging managers typically age. Chart 1 shows the cumulative performance of the perform better?managers in their study based on their size. Small funds The reasons that smaller and younger funds perform better are as varied as the styles and strategies that1 Source: Barclays Capital's Capital Solutions Group, Hedge they employ, but we view the reasons cited by Barclays Fund Pulse: Emerging Managers: Good Buy or Good Bye?, as being valid with some modifications.April, 2012.
• Both small funds and young funds (which tend to have they may be more likely to devote large amounts of smaller AUMs) can capitalize on some opportunities time and energy to their performance, by, as Barclays that larger funds cannot. Smaller managers with an puts it "reacting swiftly to market up and downturns,expertise in a strategy may be better able to identify taking opportunities, but also obsessively mitigating and profit from undervaluation of small cap companies, losses."for example. The position size necessary to justify the How to incorporate emerging managers into research and monitoring of a small cap company, for a portfolio example, might expose a larger firm to liquidity or other risks in such a position. Likewise, in credit strategies, A number of considerations are relevant for investing in smaller firms may be able to participate in smaller issue emerging managers, particularly for investors who are sizes than would be profitable for a larger fund. adding emerging managers for the first time. Younger managers by definition will have shorter track records As a second reason, Barlcays notes that "some young than more established managers. This may affect the funds are newly launched products offered by analysis that investors perform to gauge the historical established fund management companies, which may risk of the manager or to compare them to the lend those funds some of the same benefits as large investor's benchmarks. Allocators should devote funds." We would add that younger funds may adopt particular attention to understanding the manager's innovative new strategies or new approaches to old strategy and method of execution in cases where thes trategies that enable them to perform better. track record is short.Chart 2: Manager Performance by Age Managers with smaller AUMs may find it necessary to 250% spend a larger portion of their fee revenues on infrastructure in order to achieve the operational200% quality necessary to satisfy institutional investors. If the manager does not focus enough on such infrastructure,150% it raises the prospects of increased operational risk for the investor. Many quality emerging managers are 100% aware of these risks and devote considerable thought and effort to mitigating these risks. An investor in 50% emerging managers should pay as much attention to operational issues as they do for established managers. 0% Hedgeharbor represents a number of funds that fall into the emerging manager category. Our team has spent a Young Mid-Age Old considerable amount of time evaluating the quality of Source: Barclays Capital and Srategic Consulting Analysis these managers and their suitability for the investors that we serve. We are happy to assist investors in identifying those emerging managers that would best fit Third, newer managers may be hungrier, so in order to into their alternative investment portfolios.achieve good performance in their critical early years.

http://www.slideshare.net/Asset-Alliance/asset-alliance-hedge-harbor-navigator-emerging-managers-april-2012