In an unpredictable world shaped by economic instability, political shifts, and market volatility, traditional investment strategies like the “buy and hold” approach are being tested.
Investors are beginning to explore smarter, more adaptable tools to preserve and grow their wealth.
One such tool that has long been misunderstood – but is now gaining mainstream traction – is the hedge fund.
Everest Wealth is proud to introduce its own powerful version of this investment vehicle, the Everest Wealth Multi Strategy Hedge Fund, which is a robust solution designed to perform in both up and down markets.
What is a hedge fund?
At its core, a hedge fund is an investment vehicle that uses a wide array of strategies to deliver active, often market-beating, returns.
Unlike traditional collective investment schemes (CISs) or unit trusts, hedge funds are highly flexible.
They can invest in stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and especially derivatives, employing advanced techniques such as leverage, short-selling, and derivatives trading.
The biggest challenge historically is that hedge funds were reserved for Qualified Investors with a minimum of R1 million to invest.
This effectively made hedge funds the exclusive domain of institutions and the ultra-wealthy.
However, in recent years, they’ve become more accessible to retail investors, offering a sophisticated alternative to ETFs and unit trusts – albeit with higher risk.
Why consider hedge funds?
The key differentiator is strategy.
Whereas traditional funds typically “go long” (buy and hold assets with the hope they’ll increase in value), hedge funds can bet both with and against the market.
This means they’re not just dependent on upward trends – they can also thrive when markets fall.
Additionally, hedge funds can amplify exposure through leverage.
For example, a R100,000 investment could be leveraged to provide exposure equivalent to R200,000, boosting the potential for outsized returns.
However, this also increases the risk of losses, meaning hedge funds require a deeper understanding of risk tolerance and investment goals.
For investors looking for higher performance potential, active risk management, and true diversification, hedge funds provide an opportunity that traditional funds often cannot match.
Types of hedge fund strategies
Hedge funds aren’t one-size-fits-all.
They employ a variety of strategies tailored to market conditions and investor objectives:
- Equity hedge – Combines long and short positions in stocks, aiming to profit from price discrepancies and market inefficiencies.
- Global macro – Invests based on macroeconomic trends and geopolitical events across asset classes like currencies, commodities, and interest rates.
- Event-driven – Focuses on corporate events (mergers, restructurings, and bankruptcies) that can drive sharp movements in stock prices.
- Relative value – Takes advantage of pricing inefficiencies between related securities, often trading in pairs to capture market-neutral returns.
Introducing the Everest Wealth Multi Strategy Hedge Fund – Coming soon
After two years of rigorous development, Everest Wealth’s new hedge fund is nearing launch.
The Everest Wealth Multi Strategy Hedge Fund blends multiple proven strategies to deliver strong returns while managing risk intelligently.
This fund has boasted a compelling performance profile:
- 65% annualised return
- 8.67% maximum drawdown
- 1.4 Sharpe Ratio (risk-adjusted return)
- 4.29 Sortino Ratio (downside risk-adjusted return)
- 10.43% standard deviation (overall return volatility)
- 3.42% downside deviation (volatility considering only negative returns)
This kind of performance underscores the power of a multi-strategy hedge fund that balances opportunity with discipline, and upside with protection.
Final thoughts
Everest Wealth has long championed alternative investments as part of a modern wealth-building toolkit.
With the launch of our Multi Strategy Hedge Fund coming soon, we are reinforcing our belief that investors deserve access to solutions that adapt, evolve, and outperform – even in uncertain times.
As hedge funds become more accessible to a wider audience, the opportunity to enter the market differently – and perhaps more intelligently – has never been more real.
