*The THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices are constructed by THINK.CAPITAL using HedgeNews Africa data.
JSE All Share Index TR, All Bond Index and STeFI Sources: RealFin Fund Services, RisCura
At THINK.CAPITAL, we offer multi-manager, multi-strategy hedge fund solutions designed to give investors efficient access to the breadth of opportunities available within the South Africa hedge fund landscape.
The complexity of hedge funds stems from the fact that the single capability of short selling unlocks an entire toolkit that not only makes hedge funds fundamentally different from long only funds, but also introduces an endless opportunity set that leaves each one fundamentally unique.
Built on more than two decades of local and global experience, our approach combines independent manager selection and mandate creation with disciplined portfolio construction to deliver productive returns with downside protection.
As part of our ongoing research, THINK.CAPITAL constructed a set of SA Hedge Fund Strategy Indices*: THINK SA Long Short Index, THINK SA Fund of Funds Index, THINK SA Multi-Strategy Index, THINK SA Fixed Income Index and THINK SA Market Neutral Index.
The THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices* help us analyze risk and return trends. Insights from these analyses are presented monthly in the THINK SA Hedge Fund Lens.
- Total Funds Analyzed: 99 funds across five Strategies*
- Reporting Period: July 1998 to June 2026
- Data Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)
The June heatmap continued to show a more differentiated pattern of returns across the various Strategies*. While the earlier periods of the analysis showed relatively similar short-term return profiles across Strategies*, the more recent period has normalized by reflecting a much wider range of outcomes. The THINK SA Fixed Income Strategy was again the only Strategy* to deliver a positive return during June. Viewing this in combination with the tight dispersion of underlying Funds represented in the Strategy* highlights risk that may not be evident through returns only. Although the remaining Strategies delivered weaker headline returns, the underlying fund-level analysis indicates that positive performers were still present within most categories. Over the past 12 months, the THINK SA Long Short Strategy continued to exhibit the widest dispersion of returns across all Strategies*. This highlights the substantial variation in manager skill, portfolio construction, and risk-taking approaches. South African hedge funds remain diverse in style, opportunity set, and risk profile. A qualitative assessment of individual managers remains essential, as careful fund selection continues to be a meaningful source of potential outperformance over time.
All graphs are interactive. Hover the mouse over any data point for more detail.
Source: THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices*
The number of funds used to construct the THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices*.
This heatmap shows the monthly returns of the THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices* over 12 months. The returns range from red (low) to green (high). This allows for a quick comparation of the variance of performance across strategies.
Source: THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices*
This graph shows the distribution of fund returns within each Strategy* over the specific period. Each box represents the middle 50% of funds. The line inside the box showing the median and the “X” marker indicating the mean. Points beyond the whiskers represent outliers.
The graphs shows the difference in return between the top and bottom performing funds per Strategy*. It is calculated as the difference in 12-month returns of the 90th and 10th percentile of funds. This spread is recalculated every month for the preceding 12 months. Higher values indicate greater variation in fund performance within the category.
Source: THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices*
This graph shows the distribution of monthly fund returns within each Strategy* over 12 months. It helps us analyse the value of fund selection over time.
These graphs show each Strategy’s* beta to Equities (JSE All Share Index TR) and Bonds (All Bond Index). The first graph shows months when markets rose, while the second shows months when markets fell. Higher beta means the Strategy* tends to move more in line with that market.
These graphs illustrate the relationship between risk and return across the different funds in each Strategy*. Each point represents an individual fund, plotted according to its volatility (risk) on the horizontal axis and its return on the vertical axis. Funds positioned higher on the graph achieved stronger returns, while those further to the right experienced greater variability in performance. Together, these visuals provide insight into the risk-adjusted characteristics of all funds, grouped by Strategy* and how their behaviour differs.
Source: HedgeNews Africa
Source: HedgeNews Africa
The graph shows the variability of returns over 12 months, recalculated each month for the preceding 12 months.
This graph shows how closely different THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices move together over time. Larger bubbles indicate a stronger relationship, meaning the Indices move more closely together, while smaller bubbles show they move together less. The color indicates direction. Red bubbles mean the Indices tend to move in the same direction (positive), while blue bubbles show that they move in opposite directions (negative).
This boxplot illustrates the distribution of monthly returns over the past 10 years for the THINK Hedge Fund Strategy Indices. Importantly, this graph reflects the dispersion of the strategy indices themselves — not the dispersion of individual underlying funds.
Each box represents the middle 50% of funds. The line inside the box showing the median and the “X” marker indicating the mean. Points beyond the whiskers represent outliers.
Source: HedgeNews Africa