Veteran fund manager lists global macro hedge fund Asia Genesis on ADDX

VETERAN local fund manager Chua Soon Hock – the founder and chief investment officer of Asia Genesis Asset Management – has listed a global macro hedge fund on private market exchange ADDX following his return to fund management.

Chua – who has nearly four decades of trading and fund management experience – was previously the fund manager behind the Asia Genesis Japan Macro Fund between 2000 and 2009, when the fund generated an annualised net return of 18.7 per cent.

After taking a break from the industry, he returned with the new Asia Genesis Macro fund in May 2020.

The ADDX-listed Asia Genesis fund, which had some US$173 million in AUM as at Dec 2022, seeks to achieve investors’ goals of capital preservation and positive annual compounding.

“Up until 2020, I noticed many of my close relatives and friends being adversely affected by risky financial products in a leveraged environment,” Chua said in a statement.

“I felt that I could use my expertise to help them do better, and offer a transparent, safer alternative with lower downside volatility and steady returns.”

The open-ended Asia Genesis fund engages in “discretionary, nimble tactical trading” and aims for “consistent, positive and uncorrelated returns with low downside volatility, across bull, bear and range markets”.

Between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the Asia-focused global macro fund’s trading is in the stock indices of Japan, Hong Kong, China, India, and the US. The remaining exposures are in interest rates and major currencies.

The fund generated net return of 15.3 per cent for 2022, with a Sharpe Ratio of 1.2, according to the statement.

Chua believes the period between 2020 to 2030 will be unlike any of the past four decades from 1980 to 2020, where bull markets were sustained and prolonged.

“We have likely entered a multi-year range market decade with more frequent bear phases,” he said.

In this climate, Chua hopes to achieve the “best risk-adjusted returns among global macro funds” and believes his understanding of market psychology and inflexion points in times of high uncertainty should give a “strong edge”.

With the fund listed on ADDX, investors would be able to gain exposure with a minimum subscription size of US$20,000, lower than the usual US$1 million needed for hedge funds.

ADDX chief executive officer Oi-Yee Choo said the value proposition of hedge funds has become more compelling as investors continue to face uncertainty in the financial markets.

“Amid a broader reallocation towards alternatives by both institutions and mass affluent investors, technology is likely to be an important driver of growth for the hedge fund asset class in the coming years because it reduces the barriers to entry for investors,” she added.

ADDX currently serves individual accredited investors, as well as wealth managers and corporate investors. The private market exchange uses blockchain and smart contract technology in the issuance, custody and distribution of private market products.