Since its inception on 1 February 2000, Peregrine Capital's flagship High Growth QI Hedge Fund has delivered a remarkable 20,092% return (as at October 31, 2025).

Since its inception on 1 February 2000, Peregrine Capital's flagship High Growth QI Hedge Fund has delivered a remarkable 20,092% return (SA MA High Equity: 1,300% | FTSE/JSE Capped SWIX: 2,193%, as at October 31, 2025). That means R1 million invested at the fund's inception would be worth more than R200 million today.

As the first fund to ever deliver a 100x return on investment, the Peregrine Capital High Growth QI Hedge Fund has recently reached a record-breaking milestone – a 200-times return on investor capital since inception.

Peregrine Capital CEO and the fund's co-portfolio manager, Jacques Conradie, describes it as a fund where the fund manager can go big on its best ideas to deliver consistent performance and generate long-term wealth for investors. “The fund objective is to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns for our investors. We achieve this by implementing our best investment ideas in the equity market and other asset classes while assuming moderate levels of risk,” he explains.

The Peregrine Pure Hedge Fund, launched in 1998, has also surpassed the iconic 100x mark. The fund, which aims to offer investment stability and downside protection while growing investors’ purchasing power with above-inflation returns, was the second fund in South Africa to pass the 100x barrier. Impressively, the Pure Hedge Fund has never had a negative year since its inception in July 1998.

Throughout its 24-year history, the High Growth QI Hedge Fund has also consistently delivered double-digit returns for investors, with only two calendar year drawdowns, exemplifying the fund manager's steadfast adherence to this high-return, moderate-risk mandate.

“The High Growth Fund delivered a negative return over a calendar year in 2008, when it was down -12.0%, and in 2018, when we experienced a -4.1% loss. And 2016 is the only year it delivered a single-digit return,” elaborates Conradie. “However, the drawdown in 2008 was only half the losses experienced on the JSE All Share Index, which ended the year down -23.23% due to the global financial crisis.”

Outperforming the market has been a theme in the performance of both funds since their inception. Despite launching amid the dotcom market crash, the High Growth Fund set the tone for its future performance by delivering market-beating returns of 37.40% in its first year, with the JSE ending 2000 down 2.64%.

In 2020, following two decades of market-beating performances, including a 31.90% return in 2002, Peregrine Capital's High Growth Fund became the first fund in South African history to achieve a 10,000% net return for investors. Over that period, the average fund in the ASISA South Africa multi-asset high equity category provided investors with an annualised return of around 10.13%. (Source: Peregrine Capital and Bloomberg.)

Since its inception, the High Growth Fund has delivered an annualised return of 22,89% while the Pure Hedge Fund is not far behind with 18,66%. These consistent double-digit returns stem from the fund manager's unique approach, astute asset allocation, and the intelligent use of investment strategies available to hedge funds.

We focus on three core ideas – investing in shares that deliver compounding growth, benefitting from relative valuation differences through pair trades, and identifying complex special situations that require significant work to unlock value and where other managers are not prepared to tread. “Our investment philosophy offers downside protection, with less reliance on market performance than standard unit trust funds, along with uncorrelated returns that provide diversification benefits in investment portfolios,” explains Conradie.

While offshore investments have become more commonplace in this fund over the past decade as the team’s investment universe has expanded, South African equities still comprise the lion’s share of allocations, especially now given depressed market valuations. “Based on the unique attributes of hedge funds, our proven track record and our unparalleled approach to bottom-up, valuation-focused investment analysis and share selection, we are confident that the High Growth Fund and Pure Hedge Fund will continue delivering superior risk-adjusted returns going forward, on their way to 200x returns and more for investors,” concludes Conradie.