Forex Funds and Managed Accounts are Popular Alternative Investments.

Forex funds and managed accounts have become popular alternative investments. The term “Alternative Investments” is defined as investment securities trading outside traditional investments like stocks, bonds, cash, or real estate. The alternative investment industry includes:

  • Hedge funds.
  • Funds of hedge funds.
  • Managed futures funds.
  • Managed accounts.
  • Other non-traditional asset classes.

Investment managers are known for delivering absolute returns, despite market conditions. Using strategy-driven and research-backed investment methods, alternative managers try to provide a comprehensive asset base and benefits such as less risk through lower volatility with the probability of improved performance. For example, currency funds and managed account managers are in the business of delivering absolute returns regardless of how the traditional markets, such as the stock market, are performing.

currency-hedge-fund

Forex fund manager’s performances will not be correlated to any of the conventional asset classes listed above. For example, if the US stock market is down, most US equity advisor’s performance will be down. However, the direction of the US stock market will not affect a Forex fund manager’s performance. Consequently, adding a currency fund or managed account to a portfolio of traditional investments, such as equities, stocks, bonds, or cash, is an excellent way to diversify a portfolio and potentially decrease its risk and volatility profile. 

What Is The Difference Between A Hedge Fund and a Managed Account.

A hedge fund is defined as a collection of managed  investments that uses sophisticated investment methods such as gearing, long, short and derivative positions in the domestic and global marketplaces with the objective of producing high returns (either in a total sense or more than a particular sector benchmark).

A hedge fund is a private investment partnership, in the form of a corporation, that is open to a limited number of investors. The corporation almost always mandates a substantial minimum investment. Opportunities within hedge funds can be illiquid because they frequently demand investors maintain their capital in the fund for a minimum of twelve months.

The Sharpe Ratio and Risk Adjusted Performance

The Sharpe ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted performance that indicates the level of excess return per unit of risk in a Forex Funds returns. In calculating the Sharpe ratio, the excess return is the return over and above the short-term, risk-free rate of return, and this figure is divided by the risk, which is represented by the annualized volatility or standard deviation.

Sharpe Ratio = (Rp – Rf)/ σp

In summary, the Sharpe Ratio is equal to the compound annual rate of return minus the return rate on a risk–free investment divided by the annualized monthly standard deviation. The higher the Sharpe ratio, the higher the risk-adjusted return. If 10-year Treasury bonds yield 2%, and two Forex managed account programs have the same performance at the end of each month, the Forex managed account program with the lowest intra-month P&L volatility will have the higher sharpe ratio.

Risk graph with dollar sign being cupped by a man's hands.

The Sharpe Ratio is an important risk management metric for investors to understand.

The Sharpe Ratio is most often used to measure past performance; however, it can also be used to measure future currency fund returns if projected returns and the risk free rate of return are available.

The Challenges of Investing in Emerging Forex Traders

Investing in emerging Forex traders (these traders are sometimes called managers) can be extremely rewarding, or it can be extremely disappointing.  Similar to athletics, catching a rising star before anybody else notices a person’s talents can be financially rewarding for both the discoverer and the discovered.  Generally, as assets under management grow, returns shrink. And here’s the paradox: the longer you wait for a emerging Forex trader’s track record to become statistically significant, the more likely it is that that manager is going to acquire more assets under management and the managers track record will suffer due to the law of diminishing returns. Forex fund investors know it is easier to manage a $100 thousand than  $50 million.

Emerging Forex Trader

An emerging Forex trader trading looking for trading opportunities. 

Investors who take that first chance on emerging trader can make a fortune.  The initial investors in Warren Buffet and Paul Tudor Jones funds are now multimillionaires, or possibly billionaires.  How an investor picks an emerging manager is as much of an art as it is the science.

The art and science of picking emerging currency traders will be a topic of Forex Funds blog post shortly.

[Read more…]

Drawdowns Explained

An investment is said to be in a drawdown when the account equity falls below the accounts last equity high. The drawdown percentage drop in the price of an investment from its last peak price. The period between the peak level and the trough is called the length of the drawdown period between the trough, and the recapturing of the peak is called the recovery. The worst or maximum drawdown represents the highest peak to trough decline over the life of an investment. The drawdown report presents data on the percentage drawdowns during the trading program’s performance history ranked in order of magnitude of loss.

  • Start Date: Month in which peak occurs.
  • Depth: Percentage loss from peak to valley
  • Length: Duration of drawdown in months from peak to valley
  • Recovery: Number of months from valley to new high