New York-based Select Equity Group, a $6 billion asset management firm, has launched a new long/short hedge fund at a time when other hedgies are scrambling due to drawdowns and redemptions. 

The firm’s Astor Place Fund, a long-bias, all-cap offering, debuted in March. In its first four months of trading, the $6 million fund has suffered the same fate of many of its peers, losing 4.87%.
 
Astor Place has a concentrated portfolio of between 15 and 50 positions, with at least 50% of those positions domiciled outside of the U.S. in both developed and emerging markets, according to fund documents. The fund’s short positions are in companies with “deteriorating fundamentals, such as declining market share, contracting margins, product obsolescence or unfavorable industry or regulatory developments.”

Christopher Arndt is the fund’s portfolio manager.

The firm tends to shy away asset-intensiveness, moderate growth, cyclical and regulated sectors, such as auto parts makers, airlines, energy, utilities and minerals and mining, according to its Web site. In addition, it has limited exposure to industries like technology, apparel, and toys, “where barriers to competition are limited and product life cycles are short.”

The Astor Place Fund charges no management fee and a 20% incentive fee.