Hedge Fund definition: What is a Hedge fund? (2022)

What is a hedge fund?

A hedge fund is an investing strategy that aims to make money regardless of the direction of the market by "hedging" against market fluctuations, maximizing returns, and reducing risks by selecting either long (buy) or short (sell) positions inside the market.

The SEC also noted that hedge funds are subject to less regulation than mutual funds. They have more room to use leverage, short-selling, and other speculative financial instruments to pursue high-risk assets and strategies.

Usually, only wealthy investors who can afford higher management fees and the dangers of hedge fund investing are allowed to invest in hedge funds. The minimum deposit required to participate in hedge fund investing is likewise substantial.

How does a hedge fund make money?

Hedge funds only allow accredited investors to participate. Because the SEC believes accredited investors with that much wealth will be financially sophisticated, it permits them to invest in less regulated securities offerings.

Limited partnerships are the legal form used for hedge funds. The hedge fund company is a general partner, while the investors are limited partners. The hedge fund invests the combined sum of its limited partners' funds.

Since they are less strictly regulated by the SEC than mutual funds, hedge funds can adopt more risky methods to investing by limiting their clientele to accredited individuals. Managers frequently employ sophisticated techniques like leverage, long/short positions, and derivatives like options. They have access to a variety of marketplaces where they can invest, including those for equities, bonds, commodities, real estate, cryptocurrencies, etc.

Hedge fund investments are frequently fairly illiquid. There are restrictions on when you can invest or withdraw, and there is sometimes a lock-up period following the first investment of several months to several years. This method of operation enables fund managers to take more risky positions without constantly having to supply liquidity to the investors.

Similar to other hedge funds, a crypto hedge fund operates similarly. Investors pool their money to work toward a common objective. This joint objective entails crypto exposure.

Some of them just follow the same procedures they do when trading in other asset classes, like foreign exchange, by buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin according to their models in an effort to make money. They either invest in cryptocurrencies entirely or include them as an additional asset class in their portfolio.

Others participate in pre-ICOs in a manner more comparable to venture capital funds. Just to clarify your position, the Pre-ICO is the window of opportunity for selected investors to purchase tokens before the official crowd sale, frequently at a significant discount.

Access can be challenging at times, necessitating a thorough comprehension of the possibility to locate it and choose whether it is worthwhile of investing in. Investments in businesses conducting initial coin offerings (ICOs) in which hedge funds acquire actual equity stakes follow a similar path.

Hedge funds that use the ICO model to generate money to invest in cryptocurrencies in one of the ways mentioned above are slightly different but technically do not have a separate business model.

Cryptocurrency Hedge Funds

Pantera Capital

Pantera Capital is in charge of $6.4 billion worth of blockchain assets as of November 2021. To invest, you must have more than $100,000 in your account. Because of this, institutional investors or people with extremely high net worth should use this fund. This company has been operating since 2013, making it an established bitcoin hedge fund.

Coin Capital

Compared to Pantera Capital, Coin Capital is better suited for those with smaller wallets. This hedge fund finances single coin offerings, blockchain businesses, and cryptocurrencies. It oversees around 40 cryptocurrencies, including Dash, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.

Bitcoin Reserve

An arbitrage fund is a type of cryptocurrency hedge fund established by Bitcoin Reserve. In an effort to address market inefficiencies, this fund trades across multiple cryptocurrency exchanges concurrently.

This is an intriguing tactic because the values of several cryptocurrencies fluctuate between different cryptocurrency exchanges. By capitalizing on these pricing differences, an arbitrage fund aims to increase earnings and decrease risks.

Unless you have a lot of extra cash, it's not the easiest fund for normal investors to access to invest in Bitcoin Reserve. To contribute to the fund, you still need to have more than $59,000 accessible.

How to invest in Hedge Funds

Hedge fund investments are best suited for skilled and/or institutional investors who typically have enough resources, knowledge, and capacity to fully understand the risks. The most qualified investors to assess the eligibility of hedge funds are those of this sort.

For small or ordinary investors, who frequently lack the resources to fully comprehend the nature and hazards of an investment in hedge funds, many hedge funds are likely unsuitable investments. To safeguard investors' interests, hedge funds offered to retail investors should offer product transparency.

Hedge funds in the future

The amount of investment in crypto funds is negligible when compared to traditional hedge funds (approximately $100 billion compared to $3 trillion as of 2022) despite the existence of over a hundred crypto hedge funds, the most of which were created after 2015. Nevertheless, involvement is rising yearly.

Conclusion

Access to a particular manager's investment strategy is available through hedge funds, but the cost is very high. The majority of individual investors are unable to invest in hedge funds, and even those who are qualified to do so would be better off using a less expensive investing strategy.