On 12 October 2007 the BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre at SMU hosted Singapore’s first hedge fund symposium, an event that drew close to 200 attendees for a multi-faceted dialogue on “The Challenges and Rewards to Being in Asia”. The symposium was held less than a year since the Centre was launched in November 2006 to undertake and disseminate high-quality academic research in the hedge fund area and to educate finance practitioners and the investing public in Asia about this rapidly growing sector.

The symposium opened with a keynote address from Christopher Fawcett, Chairman of AIMA and CEO and CIO of Fauchier Partners, which was instrumental in facilitating the collaboration between BNP Paribas and SMU. Next to address the audience was Melvyn Teo, Associate Professor of Finance at SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business and Director of the Centre, who presented the results of his research on the geography of Asian hedge funds, which revealed that hedge funds with a regional presence outperform those without one by almost four percent a year. Complementing this academic perspective was a panel discussion featuring fund managers from four Hedge Funds who provided a practitioner’s view on matters ranging from the types of trades that benefit from local knowledge to the challenges of operating a hedge fund in Asia. Rounding out the event was a panel of experts who provided a fund investor’s perspective, addressing questions such as whether Asia-based funds are riskier than those based in the US or UK and the importance of an investor’s proximity to a fund versus the fund’s proximity to its investments.

The symposium highlighted the Centre’s role as a hub for academics, practitioners and the investment community to meet and exchange ideas. In addition to hosting an annual symposium, the Centre is also developing Executive Education programmes. It has also published a statistical digest and conducted academic research in collaboration with faculty from the London Business School and other leading foreign universities.