Financial stocks have always provided plenty of opportunities for hedge fund managers – either on the long or the short side, or both. And the financial sector is firmly back in the spotlight again, with renewed troubles in the Eurozone and elsewhere.
But the banking sector’s pivotal role at the eye of the storm during the financial crisis of 2008 created huge performance problems for financials-focused hedge funds, many of which posted painful negative numbers.
Not so Richard Urwick and his UC Financials Fund, which succeeded in navigating the storm thanks to a combination of intensive bottom-up stock selection, macro analysis, tight risk management and limited exposure. This did not prevent a flood of investor redemptions, however, leading Urwick to wind the fund down in late 2009.
But now Urwick is back with another hedge fund, which takes the methodology behind his successful long/short financials strategy and...