Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Morning line-up: D.E. Shaw, greed, regulation
News and views on the fund industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
France blocks EU hedge fund rules – diplomats – Reuters
Hedge fund D.E. Shaw makes staff cuts – source – Reuters
Hedge funds are not Gekko-like evils but they are greedy – Sydney Morning Herald
Endesa sells gas assets to Goldman funds – WSJ
North American funds buy Australian gold stocks – Sydney Morning Herald
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
SEC war on hedge’s derivatives – NY Post
Hedge funds could nab $11 bln from Lehman – Alphaville
Galleon brought down by beauty queen – Huffington Post
Hedgies pump up stock exposure – Reuters
Goldman’s Blankfein readies to bare all
Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has been holding forth in the FT with a comment piece entitled: “To avoid crises, we need more transparency”.
It’s not the sentiment that raises eyebrows; It’s the pulpit it comes from. Goldman’s recent past is scattered with events that can be described as anything but transparent.
Try asking Goldman about the bank’s exposure as an AIG trading counterparty immediately prior to the American insurer’s near-death experience last autumn. There hasn’t been much voluntary transparency so far, and what has emerged has had to be squeezed out like the remnants of a toothpaste tube.
What of the frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations which led to the then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Goldman’s ex-CEO, to ensure the insurer was bailed out — to date to the tune of $170 billion-plus of US. taxpayer’s money.
In August the New York Times said it obtained, through the Freedom of Information Act, a copy of Paulson’s calendars showing he spoke two dozen times with Blankfein during the most critical week of the AIG crisis, far more than with other concerned parties on Wall Street.
Said the NYT: “…according to two senior government officials involved in the discussions about an A.I.G. bailout and several other people who attended those meetings and requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements, the government’s decision to rescue A.I.G was made collectively by Mr. Paulson, officials from the Federal Reserve and other financial regulators in meetings at the New York Fed over the weekend of Sept. 13-14, 2008.”
Never invest in things that you do not know and do not understand. What the banker knows does not equate to what you understand from what he says. Stay wise and smart!
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Analysts’ picks beat mutual funds – FT
New kids on the prime brokerage block – WSJ
Citadel gearing up to be the next Goldman? - Seeking Alpha
US hedge fund eyes Gulf opportunities – Reuters
