The US Federal Reserve has warned that existing measures of hedge fund leverage “may not be capturing important risks”, pointing to the collapse of Archegos Capital as an example of hidden vulnerabilities in the global financial system.
The US central bank’s semi-annual report on financial stability found that some asset valuations are “elevated relative to historical norms” and “may be vulnerable to significant declines should risk appetite fall”.
But the Fed also acknowledged that regulators lack the tools to monitor the risk taking of traders like Bill Hwang, who placed large leveraged bets on stocks through his Archegos family office.