Bridge Alternatives Commodity Hedge Fund Index includes 15 largest commodity hedge fund managers by assets under management Index recorded a second consecutive year of positive double-digit performance for commodities-focused hedge funds Total assets under management by the index constituents grew by more than $3bn over 2021 Bridge Alternatives, the specialist alternative investment advisor, has revealed that commodity-focused hedge funds saw a “strong performance” in 2021, with many seeing the energy transition towards renewables as a big opportunity and a $3bn uplift in investment across the index.

I came across this Scientific American article in August and was struck by its relevance to a number of conversations we were having with investors. Without going into great detail, we were discussing a couple of investment opportunities that could be classified as esoteric or “off the run.” In many of the initial conversations, investors were trying to dig deeper into the opportunity in order to find an analogous thread that they could follow back to a previous investment or experience. While this is extremely valuable in helping suss out the types of risk inherent in any possible investment, what if the exercise misses the mark completely? What if we are applying our past experience incorrectly, neutering our ability to assess something that is truly novel?

Chris Dixon from Andreessen Horowitz recently wrote this piece discussing Web 3.0 and why a decentralized internet is important for future innovation.  This is a topic that will be explored in depth by Olaf Carlson-Wee at our upcoming time Summit event in April.

Renewable energy and low carbon-technology are coming at an increasing rate and may have a serious impact on the underlying fundamentals in the capital markets.  This recent article published in the March / April 2018 issue of Foreign Affairs touches on China’s role as a leader in renewable energy and will be a topic of conversation at our upcoming time Summit event in April.

When engaging institutional investors on the topic of cryptoassets, the discussion usually centers on Bitcoin and its promise as a digital currency or digital gold.  Given Bitcoin’s longevity and status as the “poster-child” of crypto, this shouldn’t be a surprise.  However, stopping at Bitcoin misses out on the extreme number of disruptive projects being developed on the Ethereum blockchain.  This conversation usually requires one to deploy new mental models for thinking through updated business models and economic incentive structures that will pervade these networks.