It is the start of 2024, and it is time to look ahead at what may be in store alongside the usual news and activities from around the alternative space.
Alternative News
Over the last month, activist and equity hedge funds shone, while clouds hung over private equity amid signs funds need to get more creative. There were fund launches, a big potential industry IPO, FOMO in private credit, and senior management changes. Activism became more mainstream and crypto is back in play, while commodities were a long hard slog.
Looking ahead at 2024
Jack Inglis, CEO, Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), writes about 2024 being a year of certainty for funds, "one way or another", across politics, interest rates and regulation, with a particular focus on the latter.
Vin Molino, Head of ODD, Bitwise Asset Management, turns to crypto and the challenges the space has faced in 2023 from the aftermath of FTX and the innovation that is coming through in 2024.
Christine Cairns, PwC Tax Partner & Kam Dhillon, PwC Senior Manager, look at the development of family offices to become more active and sophisticated investors.
Daniel Trentacosta, Head of Private Markets and Change at MUFG Investor Services, discusses the crucial role of outsourcing operations in 2024.
Max Heppleston, MD & EMEA, Fredriks Partners, reviews some of the trends he is seeing in the executive search space, where private wealth has been taking centre stage.
Christopher Rossbach, Managing Partner and CIO, J.Stern & Co., closes with a look at the growth of AI over the past year, and the scale of the opportunities in this particular market.
Letter from America
Prosek's Mark Kollar looks at the growth of multistrategy funds and their respective pods in terms of assets and industry discussion. Such funds offer investors "one-stop diversification." But it is a tough environment to be operating in, where "those who do well get more money, [while] others get less or are shown the door (or in pod speak the "quantitative ejection seat.")"
Regulatory Update
In the regulatory space, RQC Group look at the UK and Switzerland signing an agreement on the mutual recognition of financial services, a UK proposal to remove listed investment funds from AIFMD, FinCEN's beneficial ownership reporting rule, AIMA and NFA suing the SEC over shorting sales reporting, the SEC charges a firm for running a ponzi scheme and the SEC fining an adviser for using material non public information.