New York (HedgeCo.Net) – For the six and a half years ending June 2013, the Rothstein Kass Women in Alternative Investments Hedge Fund Index outperformed other indices, returning 6%. The S&P 500 gained 4.2% and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index dropped -1.1%during the same period.

Approximately three years ago Rothstein Kass began releasing a study on the women in hedge funds, this year’s 35 page annual “Women in Alternative Investments” report shows that, “Lack of supply” of women-owned or -managed funds was one of the most common reasons why investors do not have specific investment mandates. Roughly 93% of the investors polled have no specified mandate to invest in women-owned or -managed funds.

“The lion’s share of investors, 73.5%, anticipates that their allocations to women-owned or -managed funds will remain the same in 2014. However, 24.5% expect allocations to increase somewhat, and 2% expect allocations to women-owned or -managed funds to increase significantly.” the study reports.

The Hedge Fund Journal put out a list of the Top 50 Women in Hedge Funds, 2013.

Rothstein Kass reports that more women anticipate launching their own fund in the coming years — 17.5% in the 2013 survey compared to 14.2% in 2012.

“There is little doubt that momentum is building, but it is also true that any movement is still in its earliest stages. Certainly, improvement will continue to be driven by investor demand for more diversity within their portfolios. In the meantime, there is a growing body of research that shows women portfolio managers tend to outperform. As a result, if diversity doesn’t drive investors to seek women-owned and -managed funds, the search for alpha will undoubtedly lead them there.” the study concludes

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net
alex@hedgeco.net
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