News & Insights

Award Methodology

• This following award information is provided for information purposes only. The awards shown are for Deer Park’s STS Fund. We are not affiliated with the grantors of the awards. For further information regarding the aforementioned awards, please contact Deer Park or the award sponsors.
• Wall Street Journal - Funds had to be at least $300 million to help ensure quality of underlying operations. Data was then merged from industry databases, including BarclayHedge, Preqin and Morningstar. Their numbers are received directly from hedge-fund managers. Virtually all funds that made the list then affirmed the accuracy of this data.
• Bloomberg – Top 100 Large Hedge Funds #3: Rankings of hedge-fund managers are based on data compiled by a Bloomberg hedge-fund specialist and information supplied by hedge-fund research firms, hedge funds and investors. Rankings of 100 funds with assets of $1 billion or more. Assets and returns were for the 10 months ended on Oct. 31, 2014. The first step in calculating profits was dividing a fund’s net figure by 100 percent minus the sum of the management-fee and the incentive-fee percentages. If a fund didn’t report its fees, Bloomberg used the average of funds in our universe: a 2 percent management fee and a 20 percent incentive fee. Using gross returns, Bloomberg reconstructed approximately what the assets were at the start of the year. Because Bloomberg didn’t have inflows or outflows, the asset numbers did not take asset flows into account. Bloomberg subtracted original assets from current assets and multiplied the result by each fund’s performance fee to derive the profit figures.
• Barron’s – Best 100 Hedge Funds: Their research starts with screens prepared by two hedge-fund databases, BarclayHedge (barclayhedge.com) and Morningstar (morningstar.com), which sort through thousands of funds to meet basic criteria. Barron’s then contact the managers to verify results. They also tap additional trustworthy sources for performance or other information that is hard to come by.
• Bloomberg – Top 50 midsized hedge funds #18 – Jan 3, 2013: Fund was launched in 2011. Returns are for the 10 months ended on Oct. 31. Includes funds with $250 million to $1 billion in assets. Sources: Bloomberg, hedge-fund databases, hedge-fund firms, investors
• Hedge Funds Review: Hedge Funds Review partnered with BarclayHedge to identify the best performing funds. The judging started with running a quantitative screen over all funds reporting to the BarclayHedge database to extract raw performance figures as well as other important metrics. Additionally, independently sourced return information on non-reporting funds was included. Funds that met the qualification criteria and had top quartile returns in their category were ranked based on returns, Sharpe and Sortino ratios and downside deviation. An independent panel of judges reviewed all the risk and return metrics on the top ranked funds and selected the winners. In selecting the winning funds, the judges took into account the quantitative analysis as well as their qualitative experience and expertise.
• HFM Week – Best Fixed Income Fund: The winner was selected based on their performance over the last 12 months, using a longer historical track record as context, in addition to looking at fund volatility. The nominees and award winners are also evaluated based on the fund’s long term commitment to quality, its reputation amongst the investor community, as well as personal knowledge of each business. The judging panel is comprised of representatives from institutional and private investors and other industry experts.
• HFM Best Single Manager long-term performance (5 years) 2015: The selection process for the awards relies on both quantitative and qualitative factors. The judges looked at the pedigree of the managers, structural criteria, reputation with investors, as well as personal knowledge of each business. In terms of data, they looked at the last 5 years performance ending June 2015. Volatility and allocator input were also considered.
• HFM Best Fixed Income over $1bn 2017: The HFM US Performance Awards are judged by a panel of top investment consultants, investors and due diligence experts who make their decisions based on both quantitative and qualitative factors. In terms of data, they reviewed the returns and risk-adjusted performance of the fund over the last 12 months ending June 2017. They had the option to look at a longer time as well. They also considered pedigree of the managers and reputation with investors.
• Investors Choice Awards: The Top Performer award winners will be chosen based on their absolute returns in 2018 versus their peers with all funds reporting to Allocator platform being considered. To decide the winners of the Investors Choice awards, we invite institutional investors from around the world to score the top performers on a range of qualitative criteria including investment processes, risk framework, transparency, team and ability to generate alpha. The judges review manager profiles on the Allocator portal and independently assign a score from 1 to 10 in each of the qualitative assessment areas for each fund. The winner is determined by combining the risk adjusted returns with the judges scores to determine the winner. Long Term categories consider the quantitative performance measures over the last three years together with the judges' qualitative scores.
• Absolute Returns Awards: The Absolute Return Awards recognize the best annual risk-adjusted performance among hedge funds based in the Americas and operating a variety of strategies.
  • Age: To be considered for an award, funds must have at least a 12-month track record and either submit performance data directly to the Absolute Return database or via investors who verify the accuracy of the return record.
  • Performance: Nominations were decided by those funds that achieved the strongest Sharpe ratios during the full year of 2015, so long as they also beat the median returns in their relevant peer groups and are also within 10% of their high-water mark. The winners were funds which achieved the best returns, as long as they also achieve Sharpe ratios within 25% of the best among the nominees and are also within 10% of their high-water mark for the calendar year.
• AltCredit Fund Intelligence US Performance awards- Credit Opportunities 2020: Awards are based on returns vs Sharpe ratio and then selected by a group of expert judges. Judges look at the pedigree of the manager and its reputation with investors.
• Alt Intelligence Performance Awards: The judges who are industry experts looked at both quantitative and qualitative factors which included the pedigree of the managers, structural criteria, reputation with investors, as well as knowledge of each business. In terms of data, they looked at the last 5 years of performance or the history of the fund depending on the length of track record and then narrowed it down to the last 3 years and 12 months ending September 2015. Volatility and allocator input were also considered.
  • Best Asset-backed manager: With the credit markets in a state of flux the judges were impressed by Deer Park’s ability to hold a course and protect investor capital.
  • Best Distressed manager: The judging period covered a challenging period in the distressed space. Deer Park’s ability to navigate these choppy conditions with sound decision making and excellent risk management won wide ranging praise.