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This week on the AFI podcast, Will is joined by Declan Quilligan, Head of Hedge Fund Services at Citco, to discuss industry trends in Q1 based on the firm’s latest quarterly research.
The first quarter was anything but quiet, comprising the start of the Trump presidency in the US, the emergence of the Deep-Seek AI model, an unprecedented German fiscal package and growing speculation over US trade policy ahead of the early April announcement on tariffs.
On the agenda: key insights on hedge fund strategy performance, flows, treasury payments and trade volumes. Find topics by time-stamp and listen links below.
Find Citco’s full report here and AFI’s coverage here.
Release date: 12 May 2025 (recorded on 6 May 2025)
1:36 – Introduction to interview and Q1 overview.
2:11 – DQ gives key headlines on hedge fund performance in Q1; Tenth successive quarter of gains for sector.
4:45 – Zeroing in on multi-strategy – further strength in Q1, continuing recent trends.
7:30 – Exploration of scale.
8:21 – $7.1bn of net inflows in Q1, about half of which in multi-strategy.
10:55 – Ability of hedge funds to protect capital in volatile times.
12:08 – High levels of Treasury Payments in Q1, big y/on/y growth.
14:25 – Also very high trading volumes, volatile Q1 sees two of busiest months on record.
16:34 – Importance of hedge fund return profile in market turbulence.
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This podcast is brought to you in association with Citco, the leading asset servicer with over $2 trillion of assets under administration (AUA) and the top hedge fund administrator according to the AFI 500 research ranking. Citco acts as a true partner to its clients, dedicated to developing rich long-term relationships through gold standard services and industry leading technology. Head to Citco.com for more information.