Quantedge Global Fund returned 24 percent this year through the end of March as most peers tumbled, helping it to rebound from last year’s loss.
The Singapore-based fund, which uses quantitative models and invests globally, returned 12.2 percent in March after gaining 3.8 percent in January and 6.6 percent in February, according to a newsletter obtained by Bloomberg News. The returns more than offset the 18.3 percent loss made in 2015. Quantedge, which started with $3 million in October 2006, had assets of $1.16 billion at the end of March, according to the newsletter.
Quantedge’s year-to-date return stands out against a backdrop of losses in the industry, as hedge funds globally have declined 0.43 percent so far this year, according to data provider Eurekahedge Pte. Concerns about a slowdown in China and sliding commodity prices weighed on hedge funds worldwide in the first two months of the year. Global markets rebounded in March, helping the Eurekaghedge Hedge Fund Index climb 1.2 percent last month.
“Quantedge Global Fund’s returns were positive across all four major asset classes, adding up to our first double-digit monthly return for the year,” the firm wrote in its newsletter, referring to its March gain without elaborating on specific positions. “Strong gains from our equities and currencies positions made up the bulk of profits, with bonds and commodities icing the cake.”
Meeshell Koh, a spokesperson for Quantedge, declined to comment on the newsletter.
Quants Rise
Other funds using computer models have also gained this year, with the Japanese GCI Systematic Macro Fund up 19 percent in January and February, and the Aspect Diversified fund up 5.2 percent in the first two months of the year.
Quantedge Global Fund was founded by former reinsurance pricing actuary Leow Kah Shin and Chua Choong Tze, who had previously taught a course in portfolio management at Singapore Management University.
The fund gained 29.4 percent in 2014, and returned an annualized 26 percent since inception, according to the newsletter. A 15.9 percent loss in August contributed to the total annual decline in 2015, the second in its history after a 22.6 percent loss in 2008, the firm said in the newsletter.
To contact the reporter on this story: Klaus Wille in Singapore at kwille@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert
©2016 Bloomberg L.P.
