Category: News Excerpts

By Danielle Verbrigghe | 11/9/18

… “Every Rocaton client has a fiduciary duty to review their appointment of Rocaton,” said Christopher Cutler, founder of investment consulting firm Manager Analysis Services, in an email.

By Alyson Velati | 10/18/18

…“They want the consultant to travel 12 times per year, cover all expenses, perform a ton of work that is unique to Tampa and review alternative investment strategies,” says Christopher Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services, via email. “They are getting what they pay for.”

By Mariah Summers | 10/17/18

…But the 10-largest macro funds have fared a bit better, returning .90% so far this year, though they saw performance of -1.46% in the third quarter, compared to -.90% among all macro funds.

This trend is likely to spell trouble for macro funds of all sizes if it continues, says Christopher Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services.

“There is a high risk of disappointment if returns do not improve,” Cutler says. “I was speaking with one very large institutional allocator recently that still is a very prominent hedge fund investor. His organization is likely to make large redemptions and greatly reduce the share of hedge funds in their portfolio over the next year.”

That puts pressure on macro funds, he says.

“I would like for macro hedge funds to demonstrate sufficiently improved results to sustain the recent rally in allocations, but hedge funds seem to be slipping behind private equity and ‘real assets’ investing as perceived ways to diversify institutional portfolios,” Cutler says.

But for now, macro managers may have a short window still to work out performance issues in the near term as investor fears of a sell-off intensify.

By Alyson Velati | 7/3/18

…Typically, investment consultants already include “pricing guidance” in their fees, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services, a firm that provides manager diligence and governance review services for institutional investors, via email.

By Lydia Tomkiw | 6/13/18

…While there’s relief that hedge fund performance has improved, institutions are also continuing to spend more time thinking about where hedge funds fit into their universe, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services.

By Lydia Tomkiw | 2/14/18

…Several strategies in particular could stand to benefit after a couple of years of lackluster hedge fund industry performance, if market jitters continue. “This is an environment where global macro should start to do well,” says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services.

Macro hedge funds entered 2018 on stronger footing than in past years, posting gains of 3.34% in January, the best aggregate month since before the 2008 financial crisis, according to eVestment.

By Lydia Tomkiw | 10/11/17

…Some smaller quant funds also can offer fee breaks that industry behemoths won’t, which can help sweeten the deal, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services.

“There are some smaller quant funds that are very good,” he says. “Institutional investors just need to look harder and find them.”

…But one advantage quant funds have is that investors are more willing to tolerate some down months as institutional investors continue to look for hedge fund investments to provide diversification, Cutler says.

By Lydia Tomkiw | 8/23/17

…The composition of hedge fund investors has been shifting amid these trends as larger investors continue to push ahead while smaller investors are becoming less engaged in the space, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services.

“I’m seeing much longer term allocations to hedge funds as a strategy and then movement across those hedge strategies,” he says.

By Lydia Tomkiw | 7/5/17

As the hedge fund industry continues to struggle with performance, tensions in organizations can sometimes be better resolved with amicable departures and endorsing the ambitions of people who want to start their own businesses, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services. Investors need to have resources for monitoring such cases to make sure they are adequately informed, he says.

“Instability within the management structure is a natural ‘flag’ for due diligence analysts to take a closer look at the stability of the hedge fund organization. But cautionary ‘flags’ are constantly flying in the hedge fund industry, and without a close look by dedicated analysts, it can be difficult to discern whether the flag is a false alarm or a real concern,” he says in an email to FundFire. “That’s why investors should resource their due diligence and monitoring functions generously.”

By Alyson Velati May 3, 2017

“Family offices – which made up a quarter of fund searches in the Preqin data – are continuing to be more adventurous than large institutional investors when it comes to hedge fund allocations, says Chris Cutler, president of Manager Analysis Services. A brighter start to 2017 has laid the path for hedge funds to argue their merits, he says.

“I think recovering hedge fund performance opens an avenue for the better hedge funds to make their case,” he says in an email to FundFire. “They should be very thoughtful about their positioning, because the decision-makers at institutions are also changing at an accelerated pace.”