Chidem Kurdas
With total assets more than doubling in the past two years, AQR Capital Management can afford to be picky. The firm closed a multi-strategy fund to new investors but made an exception for customers of financial advisers approved by AQR to invest in the fund for their clients.
Also exempted from the closing are participants in 401(k) and other retirement plans that already offer the fund as an option. As is usual in such closings, current shareholders of the fund are allowed to add to their investment.
The fund uses a wide variety of strategies, from convertible bond arbitrage to managed futures and short-biased equity. This versatility can be an advantage in the current uncertain environment. It is managed by a team led by John Liew, who was one of the former Goldman Sachs people who founded AQR in 1998.
Though it had ups and downs – losses of 50% were reported in the 2007-2008 crisis – the firm has been successful in recent years. Notably, assets grew to around $84 billion from $41 billion in 2011. In the aftermath of steep losses and investor exits in the crisis, assets had gone down to $17 billion in 2009.
AQR offers a long list of strategies, including unusual ones such as a reinsurance fund that diversifies across regions and types of natural disaster.
Tags: Cliff Asness, Goldman Sachs
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