A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.
In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is capital stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.
D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. is a multinational investment management firm founded in 1988 by David E. Shaw and based in New York City. The company is known for developing complicated mathematical models and computer programs to exploit anomalies in financial markets. As of December 1, 2023, D. E. Shaw has $60 billion in AUM, including alternative investments and long strategies.
Prime brokerage is the generic term for a bundled package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to invest on a netted basis and achieve an absolute return. The prime broker provides a centralized securities clearing facility for the hedge fund so the hedge fund's collateral requirements are netted across all deals handled by the prime broker. These two features are advantageous to their clients.
Pacific Investment Management Company LLC is an American investment management firm focusing on active fixed income management worldwide. PIMCO manages investments in many asset classes such as fixed income, equities, commodities, asset allocation, ETFs, hedge funds, and private equity. PIMCO is one of the largest investment managers, actively managing more than $2 trillion in assets for central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, corporations, foundations and endowments, and individual investors around the world. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, PIMCO is the 6th-largest asset manager in the world by managed AUM.
Alpha is a measure of the active return on an investment, the performance of that investment compared with a suitable market index. An alpha of 1% means the investment's return on investment over a selected period of time was 1% better than the market during that same period; a negative alpha means the investment underperformed the market. Alpha, along with beta, is one of two key coefficients in the capital asset pricing model used in modern portfolio theory and is closely related to other important quantities such as standard deviation, R-squared and the Sharpe ratio.
Mesirow is a privately held financial services company based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm is employee-owned and 100% of voting shares are held by employees. Mesirow provides investment management, capital markets, wealth management and investment banking services.
Citadel LLC is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Ken Griffin, it has more than $58 billion in assets under management as of January 2024. The company has over 2,800 employees, with corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Founder, CEO and Co-CIO Griffin owns approximately 85% of the firm. As of December 2022, Citadel is one of the most profitable hedge funds in the world, posting $74 billion in net gains since its inception in 1990, making it the most successful hedge fund in history, according to CNBC.
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any asset class excluding capital stocks, bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose one and includes tangible assets such as precious metals, collectibles and some financial assets such as real estate, commodities, private equity, distressed securities, hedge funds, exchange funds, carbon credits, venture capital, film production, financial derivatives, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and Tax Receivable Agreements. Investments in real estate, forestry and shipping are also often termed "alternative" despite the ancient use of such real assets to enhance and preserve wealth. Alternative investments are to be contrasted with traditional investments.
Man GLG is a discretionary investment manager and a wholly owned subsidiary of British alternative investment manager Man Group plc. It is a diversified and multi-strategy fund manager that operates strategies including equity long-short funds, convertible arbitrage funds, emerging market funds and long-only mutual funds. The firm is also a founding member of the Hedge Fund Standards Board and a signatory of the Principles for Responsible investment. As of 2022, Man GLG had $35.4 billion assets under management.
Amundi is a French asset management company. With €2 trillion of assets under management (AUM) at the end of 2021, it is the largest asset manager in Europe and one of the 10 biggest investment managers in the world.
Canyon Partners, LLC is an employee-owned hedge fund founded by Joshua S. Friedman and Mitchell R. Julis in 1990 located in Los Angeles, California.
GCM Grosvenor is an American alternative asset management firm, with approximately $76 billion in assets under management and approximately 530 professionals as of 2023.
Calamos Investments is a diversified global investment firm offering an array of investment strategies including active growth equity, risk managed, convertible, sustainable equity, fixed income and alternatives. The firm offers strategies through separately managed portfolios, mutual funds, closed-end funds, private funds, an exchange traded fund and UCITS funds. Clients include major corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations and individuals, as well as the financial advisors and consultants who serve them. Headquartered in the Chicago metropolitan area, the firm also has offices in New York, San Francisco, Milwaukee and the Miami area.
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (AMG) is an American financial services firm founded in 1993 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida. The company's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AMG, and is listed on the S&P 400 for mid-size American firms.
Millennium Management is an investment management firm with a multistrategy hedge fund offering. In 2023, it was one of the world's largest alternative asset management firms with over $61.1 billion assets under management as of January 2024. The firm operates in America, Europe and Asia. As of 2022, Millennium had posted the fourth highest net gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1989.
CI Financial is a Canadian investment management company based in Toronto, Ontario. It offers investment management and wealth management services targeted to high net worth retail investors, as well as brokerage and trading services to portfolio managers and institutional investors.
BNY Mellon Investment Management is the investment management division of BNY Mellon. It is one of the largest asset managers in the world. BNY IM uses seven different specialized investment managers, each with its own strategy and expertise to manage investments.
Aksia is an American alternative investment management and advisory firm headquartered in New York City. The company provides alternative investment solutions to institutional investors.
Navigator Global Investments (NGI) is an Australian alternative investment management company headquartered in Toowong, Brisbane. It has been publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) since 2006.
