H-Squared

This week’s Insights²: private credit scrutiny is rising, AI is reshaping even the highest-conviction hedge fund positions, and the global war for investment talent is accelerating from London to Dubai to Shanghai. A few notable developments across hedge funds, private markets, and alternatives, plus what they signal for the industry ahead. Subscribe to stay in the loop!

Franklin Templeton has launched a new suite of private markets model portfolios using infrastructure from Corastone, aimed at making private market allocations easier for financial advisors to implement. The portfolios are structured as SMA-style vehicles that allow clients to hold underlying private market funds directly, rather than through a traditional fund-of-funds structure. The goal is to improve transparency, simplify administration, reduce minimum investment sizes, and make portfolio rebalancing more efficient. The offering includes exposure to a range of private market strategies through managers such as Lexington Partners in private equity, Clarion Partners LLC in real estate, and Benefit Street Partners in private credit, alongside Franklin’s own venture, hedged, and digital asset capabilities. The launch is part of a broader push by Franklin Templeton to expand access to private markets across retail and retirement channels. The firm currently manages more than $274bn in alternative assets and has been increasing distribution through platforms including Empower, CAIS, and Envestnet. For Corastone, the partnership also highlights growing use of blockchain-based infrastructure to streamline operational workflows in private markets, replacing older fragmented and manual processes. https://lnkd.in/gJ5Vzbaw

I spoke with Bilal Jafar from Financial News about Jain Global. It was also expected to be the first real challenger to mega multi- strats in years. When Bobby launched, there was a sense he would try to build a true challenger platform over time, said Max Heppleston, founder of recruitment firm H-Squared. “For Millennium, this is a very smart trade. They get access to an entire built-out multi-strategy platform, talent bench and investment capacity without the usual incubation risk. It is effectively outsourcing expansion to someone who already did the heavy lifting,” Heppleston added. https://lnkd.in/gmCYVZrN

This week’s Insights² explores the key themes reshaping global capital markets: • Hedge funds rebound sharply amid renewed volatility • Growing scrutiny on private credit liquidity and valuation risk • AI disruption beginning to impact private market software valuations • UAE and Miami emerging as increasingly strategic hedge fund hubs • Continued capital rotation into AI-linked infrastructure and alternatives In volatile markets, speed, liquidity management, and adaptability are becoming defining competitive advantages. The latest edition covers developments across hedge funds, private markets, alternatives, and institutional capital flows. Subscribe to receive the weekly briefing!

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UBS has reshuffled leadership across its investment grade credit funds following the departure of David Vignolo, who is moving into a new role within the firm’s separately managed accounts fixed income business. Responsibility for four funds, including the $2.6bn Corporate Bond and $1.7bn US Corporate Bond strategies, has been handed to Vivek Acharya, who has been with UBS since 2011 and will manage them alongside his existing responsibilities. The move comes as part of a broader rationalisation across UBS’s fixed income platform, with several Luxembourg-domiciled funds merged or closed over the past year as the firm continues to streamline its product offering. https://lnkd.in/gw_Aw93F

Hedge funds saw a strong rebound in April, recovering from a difficult March as equity markets rallied sharply. The S&P 500 rose more than 10% during the month and is now up over 5% for the year, helping many managers move back into positive territory. Large multi-strategy platforms delivered solid but more muted gains. Millennium returned 2.7% in April, taking it to 3.6% year to date, while Citadel’s Wellington fund gained 1.4% in April and is up 2.4% for the year. Its Tactical Trading strategy,  which blends its fundamental stockpicking strategies with its computer-run ones, performed more strongly, up 2.8% in April and 8.3% year to date. ExodusPoint Capital Management, LP rose 4% in April to move back into positive territory, and Schonfeld gained 2.5%, bringing its yearly return to 3.2%. Across the broader industry, returns were generally in the low-to-mid single digits for April, with some stronger performers such as Pinpoint Asset Management up 5.2% and Dymon Asia Capital up 3.2%, both now around 9% for the year. The key dynamic is that multi-strategy funds continue to show downside protection and steady recovery, but they lag sharp equity rallies due to tighter risk limits. While April erased many of the losses from March, most hedge funds still underperformed the broader market rebound. https://lnkd.in/gCZaPk2S

An interesting week for hedge funds. Closures like Eminence Capital highlight rising pressure on performance, while Jain Global’s pivot shows just how hard it is to scale a platform from scratch, even with billions behind it. At the same time, Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. has successfully raised $5bn in a landmark IPO, signalling new ways to access hedge fund strategies, while trading giants like Jane Street continue to dominate in volatile markets. Across the board, the message is clear. Performance pressure is rising, costs are climbing, and the gap between top-tier platforms and everyone else is widening. I break down what this means for hedge funds, credit, and private markets in this week’s note. Subscribe to get the full briefing.

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. has raised $5bn through the IPO of Pershing Square USA, delivering on his long-standing goal of launching a flagship listed vehicle in New York. The fund will invest in a concentrated portfolio of 12 to 15 large-cap North American companies, closely mirroring Ackman’s core strategy, but with a notable shift in structure. It is Pershing Square’s first vehicle without performance fees and is being targeted at both institutional and retail investors, broadening access to the strategy in a more scalable format. The successful raise comes after a failed attempt in 2024, when the IPO was pulled due to weak demand. This time, demand was significantly stronger, with the deal oversubscribed and the majority of capital coming from institutional investors. Ackman also enhanced the offering by including additional shares in his management company to improve the overall proposition. Also, it reopens the closed-end fund IPO market, which has been quiet in recent years due to concerns around funds trading at discounts to NAV. If this structure holds up, it could pave the way for further listed vehicles from Pershing Square and potentially in how hedge fund strategies can be accessed. https://lnkd.in/dCtZjMat