Research

The 5th annual Asian Masters of Hedge Awards was a resounding success last Friday, with over 400 hedge fund managers, investors, and industry participants from around the globe joining us.

A total of 21 awards were presented, with Artradis the big winner of the night picking up three awards including best Asian Hedge Fund, Best Multi-Strategy Fund and the Special Achievement Award. The Eastern Advisors Fund, Regal Amazon Market Neutral Fund and The Merchant Commodity Fund also came out on top, each picking up two awards in the geographic and strategic mandate categories.

 In addition, a considerable amount of money was raised for RICE, the ASEAN charity dedicated to the region. However, the philanthropy doesn’t stop there. If you’d like to contribute to this worthwhile cause, please visit www.thericefund.org for more details.

We would like to congratulate all the winners on the night; and our thanks goes to everyone who helped organise the event including our sponsors for making this possible, all who are involved from Eurekahedge and Terrapinn, our esteemed panel of judges, Martin Soong from CNBC who hosted the night and all of the participants in attendance.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Regional Awards

Best Asian Hedge Fund: Artradis AB2 Fund
Best Asia ex-Japan Hedge Fund: Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
Best Asia including Japan Hedge Fund: Eastern Advisors Fund
Best Australia Hedge Fund: Regal Amazon Market Neutral Fund
Best China Hedge Fund: Acru China + Absolute Return Fund
Best Emerging Market Hedge Fund: Tantallon BRIC Fund
Best India Hedge Fund: Halbis India Alpha Fund
Best Japan Hedge Fund: AlphaGen Tenro Fund
Best Korea Hedge Fund: SPARX Korea Long-Short Fund
Best Local Hedge Fund (Singapore): The Merchant Commodity Fund
Best New Asia Hedge Fund: Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund

Strategic Mandate Awards

Best Asia Arbitrage Fund: India Diversified Fund
Best Asia (based) CTA/Managed Futures Fund: The Merchant Commodity Fund
Best Asia Distressed Debt Fund: Ashmore Asian Recovery Fund
Best Asia Event Driven Fund: CC Asia Advantage Fund
Best Asia Fixed Income Fund: Asian CRC Hedge Fund
Best Asia (based) Global Macro Fund: Swordfish Fund
Best Asian Equity Long / Short Fund: Eastern Advisors Fund
Best Asian Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund: Artradis AB2 Fund
Best Asia Relative Value Hedge Fund: Regal Amazon Market Neutral Fund

Special Achievement Award: Artradis Fund Management

For attendees who would like to have a CD-ROM of all photos, please email awards@eurekahedge.com.

Nominees to the Asian Masters of Hedge Awards were selected through voting by an independent panel of judges, from a working list of funds reporting to the Eurekahedge databases. All Asian hedge funds listed with Eurekahedge and operating as at the end of March 2008 were eligible for nomination. A master file of all eligible funds for each of the award categories (according to their regional/strategic mandates) was compiled and was circulated among the judges to facilitate nomination for the awards (note: consequently, it is not unlikely that the same fund would be nominated for multiple awards).

Once the votes were collated and the list of nominees finalised, the winners were selected by the panel of judges, weighing in on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the funds in question. The quantitative discussion, while mainly based on 2007 performance, also evaluated 1Q2008 risk/return metrics, on grounds of consistency in fund performance.

The selection of nominees and winners was entirely under the remit of the panel of judges, and the role of Eurekahedge in this endeavour was limited to supplying data and moderating the discussion.

The winners were selected by an independent panel of judges based on both quantitative data and qualitative knowledge of the funds listed in the Eurekahedge database.

The five judges are:

Peter Douglas, Principal, GFIA, Singapore & Chairman, AIMA Singapore Chapter

Richard Johnston, Managing Director, Albourne Partners, Hong Kong

David Walter, Director, KBC Alpha, Singapore

John Knox, Director, KGR Capital, Hong Kong

Akane Hashimoto, Director, HC Asset Management Co Ltd, Japan

The nominees were as follows:

Regional Awards

Best Asian Hedge Fund
(includes all funds considered for each of the award categories, as well as funds with a pan-Asian mandate)
Sponsored by

• 777 Fund
• AlphaGen Tenro Fund
• Artradis AB2 Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Eastern Advisors Fund
• Helios Strategic
• SMC China Opportunity Fund
• SR Global Fund Asia
• UG Hidden Dragon Balance Fund

Best Asia ex-Japan Hedge Fund
(includes single country-focused funds investing in India, Greater China, Korea and Taiwan, as well as funds with a broad Asia ex-Japan mandate)
Sponsored by

• Acru China + Absolute Return Fund
• Dragon Billion China Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Everest Capital China Opportunity
• Helios Strategic
• Nezu Asia Mid-Cap Fund
• Novatera Capital Hidden Jewels Fund
• Value Partners China Hedge Fund

Best Asia including Japan Hedge Fund
(includes all funds considered for each of the award categories, as well as funds with a broad Asia including Japan mandate but not funds with a Japan-only mandate)
Sponsored by

• Artradis AB2 Fund
• Artradis Barracuda Fund
• Boyer Allan Pacific Fund
• CAI Global Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Eastern Advisors Fund
• Helios Strategic
• SR Global Fund Asia

Best Australia Hedge Fund
(includes all funds allocating to Australia)

Sponsored by

• EBC Absolute Equities Fund
• MIR Absolute Return Fund
• MQ Special Events Fund
• Platypus Australian Equity Fund
• Platypus Australian Long/Short Fund
• Regal Amazon Market Neutral Fund
• WaterStone Capital Absolute Return Fund

Best China Hedge Fund
(includes all funds allocating to Greater China)
Sponsored by

• Acru China + Absolute Return Fund
• Apex Greater China Directional Fund
• Dragon Billion China Fund
• Marco Polo Pure China Fund
• QBridge China Fund
• SMC China Opportunity Fund
• Telligent Greater China Fund
• UG Hidden Dragon Balance Fund
• Value Partners China Hedge Fund

Best Emerging Market Hedge Fund
(includes all Asia ex-Japan funds, funds with a broad Emerging Markets mandate, as well as funds investing predominantly in Asia)
Sponsored by

• Acru China + Absolute Return Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Everest Capital China Opportunity
• Helios Strategic
• Komodo Fund
• Novatera Capital Hidden Jewels Fund
• SMC China Opportunity Fund
• Tantallon BRIC Fund
• UG Hidden Dragon Balance Fund
• Value Partners China Hedge Fund
• Venus Arbitrage Fund

Best India Hedge Fund
(includes all funds allocating to India)
Sponsored by

• Halbis India Alpha Fund
• Helios Strategic
• India Diversified Fund
• Karma Fund
• Marshal Asia Opportunities Fund
• Monsoon India Inflection Fund
• Tricolor India Opportunities Fund

Best Japan Hedge Fund
(includes all funds allocating to Japan)
Sponsored by

• 777 Fund
• Alpha Pacific Qualified Partners
• AlphaGen Hokuto Fund
• AlphaGen Tenro Fund
• Halberdier Fund
• Rockhampton Fund
• Yaraka Fund

Best Korea Hedge Fund
(includes all funds allocating to Korea)
Sponsored by

• CoreVest Fund
• JF Korea Absolute Return Fund
• SPARX Korea Long-Short Fund
• Whitefield Korean Fund

Best Local Hedge Fund (Singapore)
(includes all funds managed from Singapore, irrespective of their regional and strategic mandates)
Sponsored by

• 777 Fund
• Helios Strategic
• Novatera Capital Hidden Jewels Fund
• Tantallon BRIC Fund
• Tantallon Fund
• The Asian Debt Fund
• The Merchant Commodity Fund
• UG Hidden Dragon Balance Fund

Best New Asia Hedge Fund

(includes all funds that were launched between 1 Jan 2007 and 31 Dec 2007 and:

a. whose respective managers are based in Asia, in the case of funds employing a CTA/managed futures or a macro strategy

b. allocating partially or wholly to Asia, in the case of funds employing any other strategy)

Sponsored by

• CC Asia Advantage Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Halbis India Alpha Fund
• India Diversified Fund
• Jadeite Capital Asia Pacific Absolute Return Fund
• Riley Paterson Asian Opportunities Fund
• Tairen China Fund

Strategic Mandate Awards

Best Asia Arbitrage Fund
(includes all arbitrage funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• India Diversified Fund
• Ishin Master Fund
• Venus Arbitrage Fund

Best Asia (based) CTA/Managed Futures Fund
(includes all CTA/managed futures funds managed from within Asia Pacific, irrespective of the region(s) they invest in)
Sponsored by

• Active Global Commodities Fund
• Blue Fin Capital - Managed Commodities Program
• Grinham Diversified Program
• Kaiser Trading Fund
• The Merchant Commodity Fund

Best Asia Distressed Debt Fund
(includes all distressed debt funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• ADM Galleus Fund
• Ashmore Asian Recovery Fund
• ASM Asia Recovery Fund
• QBridge China Fund
• The Asian Debt Fund

Best Asia Event Driven Fund
(includes all event driven funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• 777 Fund
• Altima Asia Fund
• Austral Equity Fund
• CC Asia Advantage Fund
• Harmony Investment Fund Feeder 1
• MQ Special Events Fund
• Simplex Value Up Trust
• The SFP Asia Fund
• Venus Special Situations Fund

Best Asia Fixed Income Fund
(includes all fixed income funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• Asian CRC Hedge Fund
• Asian Credit Hedge Fund
• Stratton Street PPC Ltd Asian Bond Fund
• Tribridge AF1 Fund

Best Asia (based) Global Macro Fund
(all macro funds managed from within Asia Pacific, irrespective of the region(s) they invest in)
Sponsored by

• Excalibur Absolute Return Fund
• Japan Macro Fund
• KC Asia Fund
• Swordfish Fund
• Vegasoul Fund

Best Asian Equity Long / Short Fund
(includes all equity long/short funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• AlphaGen Tenro Fund
• BIA Pacific Fund
• Boyer Allan Pacific Fund
• Dragon Billion China Fund
• East of Suez Fund
• Eastern Advisors Fund
• Helios Strategic
• Marco Polo Pure China Fund
• Optimal Asia Fund
• SMC China Opportunity Fund
• Tantallon Fund

Best Asian Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund
(includes all multi-strategy funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• Artradis AB2 Fund
• Artradis Barracuda Fund
• Dragonback Asia Pacific Equity Multi-Strategy Fund
• Everest Capital Asia
• India Capital Fund
• Sattva Asia Opportunities Fund
• Stark Asia Fund
• UG Hidden Dragon Balance Fund

Best Asia Relative Value Hedge Fund
(includes all relative value funds allocating to any or all regions within Asia Pacific)
Sponsored by

• Lynx Arbitrage Fund
• PD Star Fund
• Prodigal Absolute Return Fund
• RAB Northwest Japan Fund
• Regal Amazon Market Neutral Fund
• Richland Asia Absolute Return Fund
• Titan Asia Volatility Fund

Special Achievement Fund
(an award decided upon the judges’ collective discretion)
Sponsored by

• To be announced on awards night

Co-organised by