D. E. Shaw Dips Toe in Macro Pool Alternative Investment News, 5/19/2004 Hedge fund behemoth D.E. Shaw & Co. has entered the world of global macro investing for the first time. The firm, which is run by well-known manager David Shaw, is best know for its quantitative strategies, but over the past few years the firm has broadened its horizons to include non-computerized trading. D.E. Shaw penetrated the macro arena with the launch of a new set of multi-strategy high volatility funds that include an allocation to the strategy. The Oculus Funds invest primarily in existing strategies already employed by the firm including futures, currencies and equity statistical arbitrage, according to marketing materials obtained by AIN. Another component is the global macro strategy. The firm has no experience conducting global macro analysis as part of a dedicated strategy, the document says. D.E. Shaw is not completely without experience; however, as it has performed macro analysis to measure the risk of other portfolios and has made some ad hoc opportunistic trades in the past. The funds are managed by Max Stone and Anne Dinning. Stone is also responsible for the firm’s fixed-income-related strategies, while Dinning also is jointly responsible for the management, trading and risk analysis of D.E. Shaw’s proprietary investments. The firm is also planning to bring in a small team of analysts to assist the portfolio managers with the macro investing component, the document says. D.E. Shaw manages roughly $6 billion and is one of the 25 largest hedge funds in the world, according to Alpha magazine’s Hedge Fund 100. The Oculus funds have $5 million investment minimums with 2.5% management fees and 25% performance fees. The funds were set up using a master-feeder structure. Stone referred calls to Trey Beck, an investor relations official, who declined to comment. A call to Dinning was not returned. Close Window