Amsterdam-based IMQubator is providing seed capital of EUR25illion to its ninth fund, volatility expert Volvar Asset Management.
Amsterdam-based IMQubator is providing seed capital of EUR25illion to its ninth fund, volatility expert Volvar Asset Management.
Led by the three founding partners, two of whom previously managed a volatility portfolio within Lehman Brothers Investment Management Division, Volvar AM employs a systematic long-short volatility investment process, aimed at generating pure alpha with convex portfolio returns. The niche strategy is designed to build returns on volatility dynamics rather than market forecast.
Jeroen Tielman (pictured), CEO and Founder of IMQubator, says: “The Volvar AM team has solid experience in volatility trading and its strategy represents a small but strongly growing niche in the hedge fund space. Indeed, this represents a diversifying and liquid addition to the IMQubator portfolio.
“This is the moment investors should increase their exposure to hedge funds, which provide a better match to their ‘real benchmark’ than long only strategies. This is the best time for investors to get closer to investment skill and decrease their exposure to traditional strategies.”
Nadejda Rakovska, head of business development for Volvar AM, says: “IMQubator’s backing constitutes a major milestone for the firm. In light of market developments, we believe sophisticated investors are ready for the volatility asset class as it brings a very useful building block to their portfolio construction. We are very confident investors understand and subscribe to our scenario-based risk approach.”
Capitalised in January 2009 with EUR250m from APG, the asset manager for Dutch pensions giant Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, IMQubator offers an institutional platform where professional investors can gain exposure to emerging managers through the IMQubator multi-manager fund.
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Founder Tielman, a 25 year veteran of the global financial industry, believes it is time for a new generation of hedge funds that can offer transparency and a consistent investment strategy delivering absolute returns, with the end objective of restoring best practice in the hedge fund industry.
