Key Takeaways
- • Hedge funds are experiencing renewed institutional demand due to a favorable active management environment characterized by normalized interest rates, higher stock-bond correlations, wider performance dispersion, and elevated volatility that masks significant performance gaps in headline indices.
- • AQUIS Capital emphasizes liquidity as a hard constraint in hedge fund portfolio construction, with the firm's AltAlpha SICAV - Abacorum Fund offering monthly liquidity to investors—a stance driven by industry trends toward less liquid structures and increasing use of investor gates that conflict with disciplined liquidity management.
- • Disciplined fund selection has become critical as market conditions create significant performance differentiation beneath surface-level index resilience, requiring sophisticated investor due diligence to identify alpha-generating opportunities.
- • AQUIS Capital operates as a FINMA-authorized boutique asset manager across two business lines: hedge fund management and emerging market equities, including the Lumen Vietnam Fund for long-only Vietnamese equity investing.
Summary
The hedge fund industry is experiencing a resurgence in institutional demand, supported by market conditions that have become substantially more favorable for active management strategies. According to Gabriele Quargnali, Investment Manager Hedge Funds at Zurich-based AQUIS Capital, the current environment combines normalized interest rates, higher correlations between stocks and bonds, wider performance dispersion across holdings, and elevated volatility. Critically, while major market indices remain resilient at headline levels, significant performance gaps exist beneath the surface—a dynamic that creates both opportunity and selection risk for sophisticated allocators.
This performance dispersion makes disciplined fund selection and rigorous portfolio construction essential to capturing hedge fund opportunity effectively. AQUIS Capital has centered its approach on two foundational principles: capital preservation and liquidity treated as a hard constraint rather than a secondary consideration. Quargnali noted that while the hedge fund industry maintains greater liquidity than many alternative asset classes, an observable trend toward less liquid structures and increased use of investor gates has created inconsistencies with prudent liquidity management. In response, the firm's AltAlpha SICAV - Abacorum Fund, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, offers monthly liquidity to its investors—a feature the firm positions as resonating strongly with institutional allocators in the current environment.
AQUIS Capital published a research paper titled "Hedge Funds Are Back, Why Now?" on August 27, 2026, formalizing its thesis on the sector's renewed appeal. The firm itself operates as a FINMA-authorized boutique asset manager across two distinct business lines: hedge fund management and emerging market equities investing, including management of the Lumen Vietnam Fund, which focuses on long-only investments in listed Vietnamese equities with support from a team of over fifteen professionals based in Ho Chi Minh City. This dual-business structure allows the firm to implement its disciplined investment philosophy across multiple asset classes while maintaining rigorous standards for portfolio liquidity and risk management.
This performance dispersion makes disciplined fund selection and rigorous portfolio construction essential to capturing hedge fund opportunity effectively. AQUIS Capital has centered its approach on two foundational principles: capital preservation and liquidity treated as a hard constraint rather than a secondary consideration. Quargnali noted that while the hedge fund industry maintains greater liquidity than many alternative asset classes, an observable trend toward less liquid structures and increased use of investor gates has created inconsistencies with prudent liquidity management. In response, the firm's AltAlpha SICAV - Abacorum Fund, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, offers monthly liquidity to its investors—a feature the firm positions as resonating strongly with institutional allocators in the current environment.
AQUIS Capital published a research paper titled "Hedge Funds Are Back, Why Now?" on August 27, 2026, formalizing its thesis on the sector's renewed appeal. The firm itself operates as a FINMA-authorized boutique asset manager across two distinct business lines: hedge fund management and emerging market equities investing, including management of the Lumen Vietnam Fund, which focuses on long-only investments in listed Vietnamese equities with support from a team of over fifteen professionals based in Ho Chi Minh City. This dual-business structure allows the firm to implement its disciplined investment philosophy across multiple asset classes while maintaining rigorous standards for portfolio liquidity and risk management.
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