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Artradis

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Artradis Fund Management
Founded2001
FoundersStephen Diggle
Richard Magides
Defunct2011
Headquarters
Websitewww.artradis.com

Artradis Fund Management (often referred to simply as Artradis), founded in 2001,[2] was an Asian long volatility biased multi strategy alternative asset manager with operations centered in Singapore and presence in the BVI and Switzerland.[3] Its flagship funds, Barracuda and AB2, conducted market-neutral trading strategies including index arbitrage, warrant arbitrage, stock class arbitrage, convertible bond arbitrage, volatility arbitrage, volatility dispersion, and dividend arbitrage. A common theme through these strategies was to be long tail risk, primarily through volatility.[citation needed]

The company was co-founded in 2001 by Stephen Diggle and Richard Magides[4] and grew assets under management from US$4 million to US$4.7 billion at its peak in 2008, principally in its flagship Barracuda and AB2 funds. These funds halved in size to US$2 billion in 2009 as a result of withdrawals and underperformance,[5] more than halved again in 2010 to US$800 million, and were finally closed in early 2011.[6] Over the life of the funds the net profit to investors exceeded US$2.7 billion, all in years leading to 2007 and 2008, which "were spectacular" according to Mr. Diggle,[7][8] and the founders made Forbes' Wall Street's 20 Highest Earners by earning US$90 million each in a single year, 2008.[9]

Following the performance in 2007, Artradis’ AB2 fund won the ‘best Asian hedge fund’ award at the Asian Masters of Hedge awards.[10] The AB2 fund also won Eurekahedge's ‘best Asian hedge fund’ award for the performance the subsequent year.[11] The Barracuda fund won the AsiaHedge ‘fund of the year’ award in 2008 as well as the Asian Investor fund of the year 2007.[12]

Investors who purchased units in 2008 or subsequent year lost a significant part of their investment before the funds were shut down: the AB2 Fund was down 23 percent in 2010 and 27.5% in 2009 (cumulative loss of 44%), while the Barracuda fund lost 17% in 2010 and nearly 14% in 2009 (cumulative loss of 29%).[13]

References

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  1. ^ Tony Munroe (November 17, 2008). "Opportunities abound for investors based in Asia". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Former Artradis co-founder Diggle launches new investment firm". Reuters. May 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "Steve Diggle: Artradis Fund Management, Singapore's largest hedge fund". Opalesque TV. February 22, 2010.
  4. ^ Netty Idayu Ismail (October 25, 2011). "Fortress Hires Ex-Artradis Managers for Tail-Risk Strategies". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015.
  5. ^ "Hedge fund Artradis pummeled by bad volatility bets". Reuters. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  6. ^ "Asia Hedge Funds Face a Year of Attrition After Most Closures Since 2008". Bloomberg. Jan 5, 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  7. ^ "Diggle Starts New Volatility Hedge Fund Two Months After Shutting Artradis". Bloomberg. May 5, 2011. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  8. ^ "Artradis hedge fund to shut, new firm planned". Hedgeweek. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  9. ^ Schwartz, Peter J. "In Pictures: Wall Street's 20 Highest Earners". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  10. ^ "The 5th Annual Asian Masters of Hedge Awards". Eureka Hedge. March 2008. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  11. ^ "Asian Hedge Fund Awards 2009". Eureka Hedge. June 2009. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  12. ^ "Artradis, Brean Howard and Dragonback lead the winners as AsiaHedge Awards". Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  13. ^ "UPDATE 2-S'pore hedge firm Artradis to close, founder to start new..." Reuters. 2011-01-25. Retrieved 2019-05-14.