The outbreak of COVID-19 continues to impact the investment management ecosystem. Hedge fund managers are endeavoring to stay well ahead of potential demands on their treasury operations with sudden shifts in trading patterns, likely increased redemptions, and a re-doubling of efforts to protect assets and ensure liquidity. Managers continue to broadly deleverage and build-up cash positions on a scale that has not been seen since 2008. Therefore, mechanisms to manage daily liquidity are being put to their highest use. 

“Money market funds provide a haven for cash investors looking for incremental yield in a near-zero rate environment,” says Jonathan Spirgel, Managing Director and Global Head of Liquidity Solutions at BNY Mellon. As a result, he says, “We have seen cash sweep balances into our LiquidityDirect platform grow substantially since the beginning of March.”  

This paper focuses on deleveraging and liquidity trends we’ve been seeing on Hazeltree solution as well as observations on how hedge fund managers have been managing their cash while mitigating their counterparty risk. Read whitepaper.

Average Leverage Graph

* Leverage percentage calculated as average of total GMV of trade date positions / Total net equity across all prime broker and custodial locations. Source: Hazeltree Enso 

If you have any questions, please contact your Hazeltree representative or email info@hazeltree.com .