Rolle im Portfolio
The appeal of hedge fund strategies is that they seek to produce uncorrelated returns, making them a potential portfolio diversifier. To this effect, the db x-trackers Hedge Fund Index has had a solid track record. According to Deutsche Bank data, the index posted annualised returns of 0.27% for the five year period ending 28 February 2013. This significantly lags respective performances of 1.75% and 4.94% for the MSCI World and S&P 500 total return indices over this same period. However, the index achieved these returns while exhibiting a level of volatility similar to treasury securities and representing a fraction of that experienced in commodity and equity markets. Add in low correlations with most broad asset classes and the index (and, by proxy, the ETF) has the potential to be a solid diversifier comprising a small portion of a balanced asset allocation.
Compared to a direct hedge fund investment, this ETF is ultra liquid. Many hedge fund investors who tried to pull their investment during the market malaise in 2007-2008 had invested with managers that had reserved the right to suspend redemptions or had pre-specified lock-up periods. An ETF boasting intraday liquidity is an attractive alternative to those fretting over such barriers to entry and exit.