在最近的10月晚上，在芝加哥宴会厅，85名男女致力于销售活跃资产管理的机构投资者 - 养老基金的对冲基金，大多数 - 站在四五年中。亚博赞助欧冠他们持久地持续了鸡尾酒，虽然很少有精神喝。毕竟，重要的是不要在客户面前坦克。
One man stood off to the side. He, too, sold a hedge fund to pension funds — and, by almost unanimous consensus, he was world-class at that lucrative act. “It’s a trade-off,” he said. “I could be home with my kids, or I could be here.” He had multiple clients arriving soon, and keeping them happy — if only by showing his face, updating them on the latest founder and portfolio news, and listening to their concerns — outweighed the time he was missing at home. Those calculations remained his alone. His wife might have calculated differently.
This marketer’s math might have been different a decade ago. From 2003 through 2007 the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index — the gold standard of hedge fund indexes — rose a minimum of 9 percent a year, and active managers of all stripes did well. Clients needed less coddling. Sure, the passive MSCI World Index never went below a 9.5 percent annual return, and smart investors understood Nobel Prize–winning economist Bill Sharpe’s argument that active managers cannot, as a group, beat the market. Questioning investment value was less important when everything was ascendant, but that seemingly endless horizon was, in fact, a cliff.
“我不知道现在难以处于积极管理的时间，”投资咨询公司NEPC的首席投资官员蒂姆麦斯斯克说，据诚信为诚信。“卖它也是如此。”McCusker没有出席芝加哥，而是作为如何投资其资本的众多机构的顾问，他知道会议电路常规都很好。他还知道目前这个特定的会议与会者面临的逆风。“资产所有者有政治压力，然后创造的市场压力。被动投资也有一般趋势。我认为这只是变得更糟。劳工的信托统治部门将推动顾问。在一天结束时，赛道记录糟透了。“
这不是技术评估，但它被统计数据所支持。HFRI指数最后在2011年击败了MSCI世界指数 - 通过Paltry 25个基点。在随后的几年中，对冲基金的表现不足，基准测试高达15个百分点。其他积极的经理难以更好。因此，各地的营销人员正在尝试他们业务投资方面的投资方面的东西在很大程度上未能做到：对冲。
“这是'解决方案';这是“战略合作伙伴关系”，“麦卡斯特说这对冲。“每个人都在看这个东西。如果性能确实变坏，他们可以指向他们提供客户的所有其他事情。从理论上讲，它是一个更强大的回报流。它确实买了时间。这是对抗糟糕的困难。它也发生了。“但养老金领取者不能吃解决方案。在某些时候，无法持续表现不佳。
绝望可以蓬勃发展。在芝加哥的一个营销人员 - 不可否认，一个异常值 - 从羊皮枪的臀部射击名片。他的世界一流的同伴，从远处看，只能轻笑;如果只是略微的话，他的基金就是起来。他的家人，然而孤独，不会饿死 - 或被迫进入公立学校。
Compensation, of course, underlies all of this panic. Sasha Jensen, founder of Context Jensen Partners and perhaps the most successful executive recruiter for asset gatherers, says, “There are no rules for compensation.” However, she and other observers don’t disagree when it is suggested that an “eat what you kill” model reigns.
这可能意味着在“大象”作为大型养老金计划的时候是大量的发薪日，因为普遍称为，同意投资。对于像Izzy Englander的John Novomarzz的千年管理如John Novoglatz，这可能意味着数百万人。平均高级对冲基金营销人员的年度赔偿率为10亿美元的基金为750,000美元，但接近1000万美元的薪水并不闻名。也许是最好的类比，McCusker认为，是专业的运动。“他们卖掉了未知的未来表现，”他说。“我唯一能想到的是体育代理人。当一个家伙是免费的，你签署他，你敢打开他所做的伟大表现将继续。“
根据Jensen，营销人员的营销人员仍然是“理解，听力，韧性”。“就像你在营销任何产品时一样，了解您的客户需求，不做所有的谈话，并且要轻轻持续存在。明星营销人员在他们的脚上思考;他们有gravitas与事实配对。“然而，Bill Sharpe数学的野蛮真理是，在足够长的时间范围内，即使是星际营销人员也无法保存普通的活动经理。
希望永远,然而——搜索for alpha. “I do think the active-passive argument will turn,” asserts McCusker. “For marketers, when it turns, it will be very positive because it will swing significantly toward active. They shouldn’t sit and wait for it to turn, but those active managers who adapt — by incorporating algorithmic trading, being more quantitative and computer-based in how they do things — they will have their day in the sun. Mathematically, it’s a matter of who wins and loses, not of active doing well.”
对于营销人员来说，这也是一个清醒的问题，直到论证或基金的战略终于转变。然后，香槟。•