Fairtree Hedge Funds Win at Hedge News Africa Awards

Two Fairtree hedge funds won their respective categories in the annual Hedge News Africa Awards, one for the third consecutive year.  The Fairtree Assegai Equity Long Short SNN QI Hedge Fund won the award for best five year performance for the third consecutive year, returning 20,1% while the Fairtree Woodland Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund won the Multi-Strategy category, with the fund returning 22,31% for the 2020 calendar year.

The Annual Awards aim to recognise the best hedge fund managers on the continent.

Fairtree was nominated in the following categories:

Long/short equity – Fairtree Assegai Equity Long Short SNN QI Hedge Fund

Multi-strategy – Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund and Fairtree Woodland Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund

Five-year Performance – Single-Manager – Fairtree Assegai Equity Long Short SNN QI Hedge Fund

Ten-year Performance – Single-Manager – Fairtree Wild Fig Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund

Fund of the Year – Fairtree Woodland Multi Strategy SNN QI Hedge Fund

Fairtree MD and multi-strategy portfolio manager, Bradley Anthony said despite a very difficult year as a result of the pandemic, a cohesive team produced another great return outcome for investors in 2020.

“The advantage of having a strong culture rooted in our core values was evident, as the team rallied together, stayed focussed and committed. The excellence delivered by the team under trying circumstances was very gratifying,” added Anthony.

“We do not take the responsibility of the long term management of our clients savings lightly, and these awards reflect the entire team’s commitment and dedication,” added Anthony.

Assagai Portfolio Manager, Stephen Brown said Fairtree’s balance of a top down macro view with in-depth, bottom-up fundamental stock research again lead to good performance.

“We are style agnostic, which increases the pool of potential investment targets, and allows us to choose stocks which will offer attractive returns across all sectors of the market. This approach has allowed us to identify some important turning points in the market, for example the bottom of the commodity cycle at the end of 2015, and position the portfolio correctly,” said Brown.

“We are very thankful for the fund’s success, which is testament to a group effort from the whole Fairtree team,” he added.

Now in their 12^th year, the Awards measure the best risk-adjusted returns of funds across 13 different categories.  They are based on monthly data submitted to the HedgeNews Africa database, which includes South African hedge funds as well as other pioneering strategies applied across the broader African markets.