Key Takeaways
- • Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Global Multi-Manager Alternatives Portfolio (GMMAP) won The Hedge Fund Journal's UCITS Hedge award for "Best Performing Fund in 2016" in the Multi-Manager Liquid Alternatives category, based on risk-adjusted returns over the year ending December 2016.
- • GMMAP assets doubled to $600 million within one year of launch in December 2015, demonstrating strong institutional and private bank demand for the restructured fund-of-funds product.
- • The fund charges a simplified, single-layer fee structure of 1.4% management fee for the institutional class (with non-fee costs capped at 0.x%), representing a departure from traditional multi-layered fund-of-funds fee models and addressing performance fee netting risk.
- • GMMAP provides diversified exposure across eight to nine high-quality external hedge fund managers spanning multiple strategies including equity long/short, dynamic equity, event-driven, and credit relative value, with daily liquidity and UCITS compliance.
- • The product evolved from a 2013 US-based strategy managed by Kent Clark, Betsy Gorton, and Ryan Roderick in New York; the UCITS version launched in 2015 under London-based Managing Director Robert Mullane and reflects GSAM's strategic shift toward "more innovative solutions" in the fund-of-alternatives space.
Summary
Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Global Multi-Manager Alternatives Portfolio achieved recognition as one of the top-performing fund-of-hedge-funds offerings in 2016, underscoring the firm's evolution in structuring alternatives products for institutional investors. The GMMAP received The Hedge Fund Journal's UCITS Hedge award for best performance in the multi-manager liquid alternatives category based on risk-adjusted returns, and in absolute terms outpaced the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index during the measurement period ending December 2016.
The product's rapid uptake reflects strong market appetite for simplified alternatives access. Assets grew from launch to $600 million within a single year, attracting third-party distributors, private banks, and pension fund allocators. This growth trajectory suggests institutional investors welcome GSAM's restructured approach to fund-of-funds investing. According to Robert Mullane, Managing Director at GSAM's London office, the firm deliberately engineered a more streamlined product architecture: "We designed the product to offer investors access to a diversified, multi-strategy portfolio of high quality hedge funds and other investment managers, with daily liquidity and appropriate fees."
GMMAP's fee structure addresses a persistent pain point in alternatives allocation. Rather than layering multiple fees across underlying managers and wrapper vehicles, the product charges a single 1.4% management fee at the institutional class level, with non-fee costs capped at approximately 0.x%. This simplified fee approach mitigates performance fee netting risk and reduces total cost of ownership—a critical concern for large allocators evaluating fund-of-funds vehicles.
The strategy traces its roots to 2013, when GSAM launched a comparable multi-manager approach for US clients, currently managed from New York by Kent Clark, Betsy Gorton, and Ryan Roderick. The UCITS version represents a product evolution rather than an entirely new offering, with the London-based portfolio maintaining exposure to eight of the nine managers present in the US strategy. The underlying portfolio spans multiple alternative strategies including equity long/short, dynamic equity, event-driven, and credit relative value strategies, providing diversification across return drivers with daily redemption terms and UCITS regulatory compliance.
GSAM's decision to restructure its award-winning legacy fund-of-alternatives UCITS reflected a conviction that the traditional fund-of-funds model required modernization. Mullane noted that the firm sought "a more innovative solution," and the market reception—evidenced by asset growth and institutional adoption—validates this strategic repositioning in a competitive alternatives distribution landscape.
The product's rapid uptake reflects strong market appetite for simplified alternatives access. Assets grew from launch to $600 million within a single year, attracting third-party distributors, private banks, and pension fund allocators. This growth trajectory suggests institutional investors welcome GSAM's restructured approach to fund-of-funds investing. According to Robert Mullane, Managing Director at GSAM's London office, the firm deliberately engineered a more streamlined product architecture: "We designed the product to offer investors access to a diversified, multi-strategy portfolio of high quality hedge funds and other investment managers, with daily liquidity and appropriate fees."
GMMAP's fee structure addresses a persistent pain point in alternatives allocation. Rather than layering multiple fees across underlying managers and wrapper vehicles, the product charges a single 1.4% management fee at the institutional class level, with non-fee costs capped at approximately 0.x%. This simplified fee approach mitigates performance fee netting risk and reduces total cost of ownership—a critical concern for large allocators evaluating fund-of-funds vehicles.
The strategy traces its roots to 2013, when GSAM launched a comparable multi-manager approach for US clients, currently managed from New York by Kent Clark, Betsy Gorton, and Ryan Roderick. The UCITS version represents a product evolution rather than an entirely new offering, with the London-based portfolio maintaining exposure to eight of the nine managers present in the US strategy. The underlying portfolio spans multiple alternative strategies including equity long/short, dynamic equity, event-driven, and credit relative value strategies, providing diversification across return drivers with daily redemption terms and UCITS regulatory compliance.
GSAM's decision to restructure its award-winning legacy fund-of-alternatives UCITS reflected a conviction that the traditional fund-of-funds model required modernization. Mullane noted that the firm sought "a more innovative solution," and the market reception—evidenced by asset growth and institutional adoption—validates this strategic repositioning in a competitive alternatives distribution landscape.
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