It’s usually around this time that jittery managers and investors start reaching for the antacid to counter the sinking feeling that comes with a falling market and tumbling returns. Such may be the case with emerging markets, suggests Philippe Teilhard de Chardin, but the savvy hedge fund manager knows that the potential in that strategy is too strong to ignore, and hedgies will likely ride out the storm pretty much intact. In an interview with Reuters, the managing director of FIMAT International’s Alternative Investment Solutions unit did say those hedge funds that entered emerging markets last are likely to suffer the most, while long-timers are merely giving back some of their healthy gains. “People tend to forget things often go in waves... market cycles do exist,” he said. “Hedge funds are fairly good at surfing these waves.... That’s what they are ultimately paid for.” Teilhard de Chardin also noted that the ill effects of the losses will be cushioned by pre-emptive measures that will help hedge funds avoid past disasters. “There was a large mismatch of assets and liabilities [in the late 1990s] in terms of dollars and local currency borrowing,” he told Reuters. “Lessons have been learned.... Hedge funds are increasing their exposure to Asian-based strategies with more confidence than before.”