QFS Asset Management has decided to close its last remaining currency hedge fund and is returning nearly US$1 billion to clients by the end of January.
The decision to close the fund comes after the fund lost 8.7% in 2013 and 8.6% in 2012 and after the global markets have been inconsistent with the firm’s fundamentally-driven strategy.
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QFS will return all money to its clients, including pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds and other institutions.
Karlheinz Muhr, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said: "We made a decision to take the high road and say we can’t generate the returns we want to generate. The firm will continue to do global economic research to "see if we come up with new ideas."
Muhr added that the firm’s poor performance to the unconventional monetary policies of global central banks with distorted asset prices has made it tough for currency funds to make money.
"In the absence of opportunities, QFS has determined that it is in the best interests of its investors to return all capital," he added.
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By GlobalDataMuhr said that QFS will continue to research the global macro and currency markets, with an eye toward developing new and innovative sources of returns.
QFS said: "Longer term, QFS management is still confident that economic realities will force a normalization of asset prices, which will create opportunities for fundamentally-driven investing strategies to bring about commensurate risk adjusted returns."
