A new global macro hedge fund managed by Tribeca Investment Partners has raised capital from an Australian financial institution.

Tribeca, a Sydney-based fund manager, now oversees $45 million in its Global Total Return Fund after garnering its first injection of institutional capital. It declined to name the investor.

The fund, which aims to beat the official cash interest rate by investing in securities profiting from prevailing macroeconomic themes, returned 3.8 per cent gross of fees in the calendar year to July 31 against the 2.5 per cent gained by cash. Since the strategy’s 2010 inception it has delivered 11.8 per cent gross compared to the benchmark’s 4.7 per cent.

“The dominant themes of the last six months have been worries over extreme event risk. We try to remove the risks that are likely to hurt us in upside and downside scenarios,” said Chris Daily, one of the portfolio managers overseeing the strategy, in a telephone interview on August 1. “Risks are not as obvious as they were leading up to the financial crisis. That makes for a challenging environment.”

Genuine diversification

The new investment, although modest by institutional standards,comes during a tough capital-raising environment for new hedge funds. Tribeca estimates that more than $1 billion can be invested in the strategy without compromising performance.

“We’re confident of raising money as long as the performance is there,” Daily said. “Our goal is to deliver genuine diversification to investors who need it.”

Daily, who works in Tribeca’s Bligh Street office in central Sydney, manages the strategy with Peter Hand, who is based in Portland, Oregon. Both previously ran money at Barclays Global Investors and have invested personal wealth in the new fund.