Quant Industry News Summary (22.01.2021)

Hedge fund liquidations increased by 20% in 2020 (Link)
- Hedge fund launches have remained steady in recent years, but the number of fund liquidations increased nearly 20% last year compared to 2019 (from 66 to 79 liquidations)
- The equity sector and equity diversified strategies constituted the top two buckets for both liquidations and launches
- There is a relationship between performance and fund launches. The equity sector topped both lists, accounting for 47% of the year's total launches and returning 24.7% for the year
- Half the funds launched in 2020 had $100 million in AUM, while the other half exceeded $100 million in AUM

JPM report spots 'new low' for hedge fund industry, alts moving from optional to essential alpha plays (Link)
- The hedge fund industry witnessed outflows of $30 billion in 2020 - the third consecutive year of outflows and the fourth year of outflows in the last five years
- Hedge funds have struggled to match the returns of so-called passive funds that track the performance of some of the major indices
- The alpha, income and diversification benefits of alternative assets mean they are no longer a fringe or luxury benefit. Therefore, they must be viewed as essential to properly-rounded portfolios in the wake of the pandemic

Bob Treue's Barnegat Fund ends 2020 up 11.67% (Link)
- Despite initially losing money when the pandemic hit, Barnegat Fund gained 2.29% in December and closed the year up +11.67%
- The 20-year old fund is the top performing fixed income strategy among its peer group
- Barnegat is a relative value fixed income shop that can hold its positions for several years at a time
- As a result, fund performance is uncorrelated to both equities and fixed income; the abrupt change in the market last year changed the relationships among securities, but all of that normalized as markets rebounded

Pragma launches execution algorithms with deep-learning capabilities for equity trading (Link)
- Pragma, an independent algorithmic trading technology provider, has launched a new generation of deep-learning enabled execution algorithms
- Following a beta launch in 2020, Pragma managed a number of controlled trials with its clients; it observed a significant improvement to execution quality, with an average shortfall improvement of 33% to 50% across billions of traded shares
- The benefit of AI models is that it allows Pragma to tailor their algorithms' use of dynamic real-time signals and market conditions to the complex, multi-dimensional interactions of stock characteristics and order requirements

Bit.com to launch first BCH options (Link)
- Bit.com, Matrixport's secure derivatives exchange, is to launch bitcoin cash (BCH) perpetual swaps and options on 20 January, and 1 February, respectively
- Bit.com's offering of bitcoin cash options is the first of its kind in the industry
- Notably, Bitcoin cash ranks in the top 10 of cryptocurrencies recognised by financial institutions
- Currently, the cryptocurrency perpetual swaps market is dominated by BTC. BTC accounts for 53% of the market share, while ETH attributes to 20%
- BCH only takes 1% of the crypto perpetual swap market share. This is disproportionate to the relative market share of the underlying asset

Bitfinex opens trading for ETH 2.0 (Link)
- Digital token trading platform Bitfinex launches trading for ETH 2.0, allowing users to exit or enter an ethereum staking position
- ETH 2.0 will be available to trade with US Dollars, ethereum and tether tokens on 21/01/21
- No minimum requirement is in place on the amount of ETH held for a user to participate in staking