Le Mans’ roots lie in the IASG CTA database started in 1992 by Le Mans’ founding partner JonPaul Jonkheer. Resch, the first hire in 2010, helped to set up Le Mans in 2015 and then the Hyperion fund launched in October 2020. The firm is also an introducing broker focused on family offices and high net worth individuals.
Hyperion, named after the world’s tallest tree, internalizes proprietary trading strategies run by traders in London, New York, Chicago and elsewhere including Maik Kaminski, whose volatility strategy run for Aquantum in Germany has been profiled in The Hedge Fund Journal. Hyperion combines a 65% market neutral allocation with a 35% long volatility allocation to deliver absolute returns targeting low correlation; in fact, it has realized a slightly negative correlation to the S&P 500.
BGAAF is offered through Cayman and domestic US vehicles. The structure has a Chicago-domiciled master fund and a Cayman feeder, which uses Formidium and Apex as administrators in contrast to Northern Trust for the Guernsey feeder. “Though Delaware has historically been more popular than Illinois, the tax advantages have gone away, and we avoid the need for a local lawyer and registered agent in Delaware. We opted for a US master because the regulator prefers this,” explains Resch.
In fact, the Cayman feeder has proved more popular than the US onshore structure, attracting European, Australian and US investors. Everything is traded via futures, which are tax-advantaged in the US: a higher proportion of gains are taxed at lower long-term rates of capital gains tax.
BGAAF can also be accessed through managed accounts on the Le Mans platform with a minimum of USD 10 million notional and around 22% margin to equity, on average.
Currently the main investors are family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The strategy is open to qualified investors through 506d private placement. The fund has been promoted at events such as The Money Show, marketed online and by phone. “We attended a family office event and had 20 one-on-one meetings with family offices,” says Resch.
Le Mans may broaden out the investor base by onboarding BGAAF onto platforms such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity. Both already host Hyperion, which has raised external assets from RIAs over the past few years. “The product would then have a CUSIP, could be held in 401k pension plans, and Charles Schwab or Fidelity could act as registered investment advisers (RIAs),” says Resch. This would open up a network of RIAs managing trillions of dollars in the US where retail investors are allocating more to alternatives in both public and private markets.
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