ICMA Centre student, Hong Hung Quach, who studied the MSc International Securities, Investment and Banking has received the commendation of runner-up for the Eurekahedge prize for the best paper on hedge funds, after working on a major project based on Eurekahedge data for his MSc.
Hung moved with his family to Germany from his native Vietnam, then decided to move to the UK for one year to study at the ICMA Centre. He graduated in July 2006 with a merit. During his MSc study he founded a company which specialised in organising music events for Asians and Asian lifestyle enthusiasts in Germany. In April 2007, he will start his International Management Traineeship at Fortis Group.
His project – supervised by Jacques Pezier, Visiting Professor at the ICMA Centre – is an empirical study of all existing hedge funds using different investment strategies. His paper is entitled ‘Do Large Hedge Funds Perform Better Than Small Ones?’ (Click here to read the paper.)
This project is a significant commitment and is subject to a rigorous academic review. Students who focus their projects on hedge funds are able to access the Eurekahedge database of more than 7,000 hedge funds.
Hong Hung said, “I am pleased to achieve runner-up for the Eurekahedge Prize, an award that recognised my efforts and disciplined hard work that was essential in completing my research project. The investigation in this project attempts to give an answer as to whether the performance of big hedge funds dominates the performance of smaller ones, as defined by assets under management. My special thanks go to both Eurekahedge for providing me with data and the ICMA Centre for teaching me valuable financial market knowledge, without which the research could not have been accomplished.”
Eurekahedge became involved with the ICMA Centre in 2005, working on a joint initiative to develop working papers on the hedge fund industry. To assist their research the academic staff and students at the ICMA Centre now have access to the Eurekahedge database. The motivating factor for this partnership is the combined desire to encourage an appropriate risk management approach to alternative investments while bridging the gap between academic research and applied finance.
Research at the ICMA Centre focuses on quantitative finance, market microstructure, fund management, risk management and regulation; hence the Eurekahedge papers will focus on topics ranging from statistical analysis to portfolio construction of fund of hedge funds. The collaboration is set to continue with Eurekahedge offering further use of more databases to ICMA Centre staff and students. This is particularly relevant to the ICMA Centre’s new MSc in Investment Management which has attracted a large number of applications for the forthcoming academic session.
About Eurekahedge
Eurekahedge is an independent research and consultancy company focusing on alternative investments. We are headquartered in Singapore and have representatives all over the world. We maintain coverage on 14,000 alternative funds globally and disseminate data on over 11,000 alternative funds.
Our global alternative research covers hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity funds, Islamic funds, real estate funds and long-only absolute return funds.
About ICMA Centre
The ICMA Centre, University of Reading has an international reputation for providing quality undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education tailored to the capital markets industry. The ICMA Centre’s success is based not only on the integration of applied finance theory and industry specific training but also its considerable professional and academic expertise, and strong links with companies and trade associations in the global finance industry.
Established in 1991 with funding provided by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) in Zurich, the Centre is housed in a purpose-built modernist building with state-of-the-art facilities including two dealing rooms using software similar to those found in major investment banks. Due to the fantastic success of the Centre and growing demand for their programmes from a worldwide audience, ICMA are investing a further £5 million expansion to the building which will include an additional 50-seat dealing room, 150-seat lecture theatre as well as new seminar rooms and dedicated research area. The new building is expected to be open for students at the start of the 2008 academic session.
For further information, contact Lucy Ferguson, Senior Press Officer, on +44 118 378 7388 or email L.Ferguson@reading.ac.uk
