IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Entries and nominations are for the ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016 are now closed. The results will be announced imminently.
Since 2006, the ACQ5 AWARDS programs have been celebrating achievement, innovation and brilliance in their annual awards. Anybody can make that claim, but ACQ really is different. We boast a legitimately independent nomination process, most importantly, our award winners, are chosen based on qualitative and quantitative metrics or/and by the industry itself.
We always rely on reader insight and experience to provide nominations and we relish hearing about new experts and burgeoning markets. Every year, we seek their assistance in recognising industry leaders, eminent individuals, exemplary teams and distinguished businesses, which we believe represent the benchmark of achievement and best practice in a variety of fields – and every year, our readers help as we strive to recognise an ever-widening spectrum of services, markets, industries and organisations that serve our global market place.
Our awards rise above the status of participation certificate and actually represent an endorsement of outstanding work.
We recognise smaller market participants as well as larger organisations adapting international models to unique geographies.
Entry into all awards programs is free of charge. This includes Submission, Nomination and Selection of winners.
Hosted by ACQ magazine & the ACQ5 news portal, we would like to thank all who choose share their thoughts by making nominations related to performance and the best practices they have experienced first-hand.
How to Participate
To find the category winners of the ACQ HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016, we now need your help. Entering and winning one of the identified categories is your opportunity to showcase your achievements to the rest of the industry, as well as to stand out from your competitors.
ACQ5 magazine's annual Hedge / Fund Industry Awards honour the hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, investment consultants, endowments, foundations, family offices, corporate funds, public funds, sovereign funds, advisory services and rising stars that stood out for their performance innovation, achievements and contributions to the industry in the past year.
The judging process is impartial and unbiased and seeks to reward genuine performance and quality.
The application and judging process is ONLY conducted online via the ACQ5 nomination platform.
Data providers for the 2016 awards
In addition to funds submitting themselves for performance awards, we work with data providers. Funds reporting to the data provider will be put forward if they meet the criteria and have positive performance for the periods under review. The judging panel will apply the same criteria to these funds and decisions will be based on both qualitative and quantitative factors.
Launched by financial professionals in 2001, Eurekahedge's track record spans over a decade, setting the company apart as the world's largest independent data provider and alternative research firm specialising in hedge fund databases covering North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Headquartered in Singapore with offices in New York and Cebu, the global expertise of its research team adapts to industry changes and needs, allowing Eurekahedge to develop and offer a wide array of products and services coveted by accredited investor groups, financial institutions and media sources. In addition to its hedge fund databases and analysis, Eurekahedge's other business functions include hedge fund publications, due diligence services, investor services and an analytical platform service.
www.eurekahedge.com
• 2016 award programmes will be advertised on a number of international 3rd party digital media platforms in addition to being published on ACQ Magazine.com & Widza.com throughout 2016 & 2017.
• All 3rd party digital media platforms are chosen promotional vessels for ACQ5 Award programmes during 2016. They are NOT to be considered as a sponsor or partner to the ACQ5 Award programmes during 2016.
• Digital Banner Advertisements about the awards will be viewable online on the International version of each indicated platform.
• The publisher reserves the right to add or change the selection of its chosen internationally recognised 3rd party digital media platforms at any time prior to, during or after ACQ5 Award programme 2016 closings.
Many thanks once more and we look forward to your nominations.
And now the small print…
Eligibility
Organisational participation include private companies, publicly listed companies, multi-national subsidiaries, non-government organisations, educational institutions, franchise systems, partnerships, educational institutions, government departments, government agencies, local government and statutory bodies operating in both locally and internationally.
Initiatives can include but are not limited to projects, programmes, processes, services, systems, technologies, developments, ventures and undertakings.
Assessment
Unless stated otherwise, entries are assessed utilising a robust and dynamic framework to ensure that the assessment process is pertinent and objective. The ACQ Annual Award Framework (AAA Framework) is utilised as a structured model of assessment that enables the participating organisations to be benchmarked against world class performance standards. The Framework consists of specialised assessment modules pertaining to the evaluation criteria for each of the award programmes and the categories contained within. The criteria and sub-criteria provide a robust set of requirements that are used as the methodology for benchmarking and learning among the participating organisations.
Votes cannot be limited to one per IP address as this would prevent large numbers of individuals submitting votes from their workplace at large organisations, but the judging panel carefully exercises its expertise in ensuring that suspicious or inappropriate companies receiving large numbers of votes are properly probed. As part of any such investigation our web team will be able to check if statistically significant numbers of votes for a suspicious company originated from the same individual or group of IP addresses, and whether the details of these voters match the identifying IP address. Any data accessed for such purposes will be treated as confidential.
Scope
Organisations that participate in all award programmes are provided with the unique opportunity to benchmark themselves against the top performers globally. The recipients are acknowledged for their achievements and recognised as the elite of their industry earning a place amongst a distinguished group by having their products, projects, initiatives, contributions and achievements recognised on a prominent and far-reaching scale.
Each programme provides the ultimate platform for building knowledge, increasing brand awareness, equity, loyalty and retention through increased exposure, recognition and prestige. This establishes a valuable resource that can be used extensively to create opportunities for publicity, positive organisational profiling and heightened brand awareness within the respective industries both nationally and internationally.
2016 Methodology
The ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016 are open to any practice, individual or related sector supplier.
We feel that the best way to “judge” is to take into account qualitative and quantitative metrics of “the fund” along with their experience of the management firms. With regard to quantitative measures, of course returns play the main role but we look at other factors such as performance relative to the peer group, volatility, draw downs, size of the fund etc. Qualitatively when judging, we will ask, “Is this a sensible business?”. Other programmes of this kind use a simple statistical rankings, such as only the highest sharpe ratio, which we feel belittles the industry and lowers their credibility amongst investors and serious hedge funds.
Winners are selected based on a methodology that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis (Data Provider Assistance). The process begins by running a quantitative screen over those either entering or automatically qualifying based on performance statistics, extracting raw performance figures as well as other important metrics. Where performance is our guide, those that meet the qualification criteria are then ranked based on various criteria. (returns, Sharpe and Sortino ratios and downside deviation etc). Those with the best aggregate ranking (and where applicable, with associated nominations) are selected as a winner in each category.
More than just performance (Non-performance categories)
Whilst self-nomination is accepted, we encourage you to circulate this email to your strategic partners and clients to improve your chances of category winning success. Tell them that you are seeking nomination and ultimately, success. This is also your chance to give recognition to those you have worked with or for during the past 12 months.
Following a public call for nominations, the editorial staff of ACQ5 magazine selects award nominees based on how strongly candidates, both those put forward via the call for nominations, and those independently identified by the editorial staff, meet the criteria for their respective categories. Once the nominees are shortlisted, ACQ5’s editorial staff analyses the results of the voting to determine the winners, who are announced in the annual awards supplement.
Where performance is not applicable, only categories with a sufficient number of votes are included in the final poll. The poll is not only designed to reflect actual performance in any particular area of expertise, it is also aimed to reflect direct market share based on a number of criteria and voters could base their decisions on addressing expertise, risk profile, understanding of a business and its needs, exposure, technical insight, long term approach, short term approach, governance, diversification, strategy, customer service, reliability, experience and knowledge, integrity. In that sense, this poll should be considered a reflection of how professionals view any practice, individual or related sector supplier in terms of overall quality of service.
When analysing the votes, we look to strip out what we consider to be invalid votes. These include multiple votes from the same person, proxy votes, votes from people using personal email accounts, votes by people who choose the same nominee indiscriminately throughout the poll and block votes from groups of people at the same institution voting for the nominee. Self-submission is however accepted. The editor's decision is final.
Practice area rankings are produced in each geography that ACQ5 has a penetration in. Because some practice areas have minimal presence in particular markets or geographies, or because there is not enough data garnered for proper evaluation, some practice areas that are covered in our research may not be represented in the 2016 awards publication.
All of the quantitative and qualitative practice area data will be combined and then added to actual “Best of Breed” nominations (where applicable) to provide the resultant overall “Best of Breed” for each geography.
Any data accessed for such purposes will be treated as confidential unless voters specifically allow their nominations to be released to nominees.
FAQ's
Are there any fees associated with participation in the submission process or receiving a ranking in the “ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016”?
No. There are no fees associated with submitting information or receiving a ranking. Featured appearances within the ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016 supplement will carry traditional representative marketing costs.
Can I review a list of the practice areas included in the evaluation process?
A list of the categories considered for the “ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016” rankings can be found in the nomination form.
Where will the rankings be published?
The rankings will be published in a special stand-alone supplement released by ACQ5. All of the rankings, in all tiers, will be published online at http://acq5.com.
How can I receive communications regarding the submission process, announcements and opportunities available to our business?
Parties may designate a contact — or multiple contacts — to receive communications related to the ACQ5 HEDGE / FUND AWARDS 2016 initiative. If we do not have a designated contact, all communications are sent to individuals within the organisation that have previously communicated with ACQ or ACQ deems most appropriate. ACQ relies on the assistance of these individuals to ensure that all related notifications are passed to a suitable representative of the organisation.
Please contact your firm's Media Specialist or write to awards@acq5.com to be added as a contact for your firm.
Survey rules:
1. GENERAL INFORMATION: The survey ("Survey") to which these Official Rules apply is operated by ACQ5.com ("the Promoter")
The Survey will run from and during 11th April 2016 & 6th May 2016 (the "Survey Period").
2. HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?: The Survey is open to any individual who works in the market sector and can reasonably be expected to have personal knowledge and experiences of the categories to which the (nominating) Survey awards relate. Exceptions are employees of the Promoter and its parent, subsidiary, affiliated or associated companies, its and their agents and immediate families and anyone else professionally connected with the Survey(the "Released Parties") are not eligible to participate. All participants under 18 must have parental/guardian consent to enter. By entering this Survey each player confirms that he/she has obtained such consent and agrees to be bound by these Official Rules.
3. HOW TO ENTER: Entry to the Survey is by completing the electronic polling information that can be found at here soon....
By entering the Survey participants confirm that all information given is complete, accurate and not misleading. The Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entry at any time in the event it is determined that the participant has not complied with these Official Rules or has acted in an unfair or disruptive manner. The Released Parties are not responsible for misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, illegible, undeliverable entries, technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions or other errors or problems which may limit or affect a participant's ability to participate in the Survey. The Released Parties are not responsible for other errors or difficulties of any kind, whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise, relating to or in connection with the Survey, including without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Survey, the processing of entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Survey-related materials. The Released Parties do not guarantee that the telephony system and/or Survey will not contain IT faults, or that faults identified will be remedied; In the event of sabotage, acts of God, terrorism or threats thereof, network failure or other events or causes beyond the Promoter's control, which corrupt the integrity, administration, security or proper operation of the Survey, the Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend the Survey (or a portion thereof). In the event of cancellation, the Promoter reserves the right to judge all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to the event requiring such cancellation. False or deceptive entries or acts will invalidate the participant's vote.
4. INVALID VOTES: When aggregating the results, we will discount what we consider to be invalid votes. These include (but are not restricted to):
• Multiple votes from the same IP address;
• Proxy votes on behalf of customers (even if authorisation has been given);
• Votes from personal email accounts including Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail accounts (or similar);
• Organised group voting patterns e.g. block votes from groups of participants on the same desk at the same institution voting for the same firm
• Inducements to vote in a particular way e.g. gifts, drinks or entertainment
• Any other indication that an unfair attempt has been made to influence the poll.
Emailed votes from companies and firms that send mass emails copying and pasting parts of our poll/intro letter and attaching their logo will be disqualified, to ensure that there is no suggestion that the poll is a collaborative effort.
5. GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS: All information provided by participants will be collected by a third party in accordance with the Promoter's privacy policy available on http://www.acq5.com/privacy-policy/ and passed on securely to the Promoter so that the winner may be contacted. Once the Survey has finished, the Promoter shall retain collected data in accordance with its privacy policy.
The Released Parties expressly disclaim any responsibility for any and all claims, actions, demands and/or liability for injury, damage or loss whatsoever relating to or arising in connection with participation in this Survey (regardless of the cause of such injury, damage or loss) and/or the delivery and/or subsequent use or misuse of any of the prize awarded (including without limitation, any travel and activity related thereto). For the avoidance of doubt The Released Parties do not exclude their liability for death or personal injury caused by their own negligence.
Any dispute or complaint concerning this Survey should be addressed to ACQ Magazine by 01/01/2017 at awards@acq5.com and must be submitted within 90 days following the close of the Survey and specify the date of the Survey and its name. The Promoter reserves the right to shorten, defer, alter or cancel this Survey (including without limitation the categories of award) if it considers in its sole discretion that circumstances demand it; it cannot be held liable for this on any grounds whatsoever.
The Promoter's decision is final.