Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Conservatives’ Clarke tries to appease hedge funds over new rules – Times
Hedge fund firm NewSmith pays members 29 mln stg in 2008 – Reuters
Fund manager pleads guilty in Ponzi case – Chicago Tribune
Citadel’s main hedge funds continue rally in September – WSJ
Despite ’08 pain, the rich still like hedge funds – Reuters
Frontier backs synthetic over single hedge funds – FTAdviser
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
UK church is unlikely defender of hedge funds – WSJ
Once-robust Polygon is forced to adjust – WSJ
Second buyer asks for chance to bid on Sun-Times Media Group – Chicago Tribune
Recovery landscape brightens for F&C partner – Reuters
Hedge fund bets on hyperinflation – The Atlantic
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Hedge funds slash costs to win back investors – Daily Mail
Ex-GLG fund head to set up in Paris – FT
John Paulson tops list of most admired hedge fund managers – Absolute Return
FRM Capital invests in Asia hedge fund – WSJ
Hedge funds threatened by redemption requests – Hedge Funds Review
Hedge fund assets seen rebounding – Reuters
London’s future looks cloudy
Data from HFI out today may provide further ammunition for those who fear London’s position as Europe’s hedge hub is under threat.
London’s share of global hedge fund firms running more than $1 billion in assets slipped in the first half of 2009 to less than 15 percent from more than 17 percent.
Onshoring the hedge fund industry
Hedge fund executives are increasingly talking about the “onshoring” of the industry — new funds being domiciled in Luxembourg rather than Cayman, their traditional home — and our story today about RCM shows more and more are putting it into practice.
The firm, which has less than $200 mln in hedge fund assets, hopes to raise at least $100 mln with two new funds, including a Luxembourg-domiciled Ucits equity fund.
NAPF takes aim at EU AIFM draft
The hedge fund industry’s anger at the EU’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive is hardly new now, but there are growing signs of discontent from another group — the pension funds that actually put their money into hedge funds.
Last week we reported USS (the Universitied Superannuation Scheme) and Hermes, which manages BT’s pension scheme, were criticizing the draft laws for potentially limiting their investment choice and upsetting portfolio balance.
The use of UCITS
Hedge funds are continuing to react to potentially seismic shifts in regulation.
A number of firms, notably Man Group and Cheyne, are debuting onshore funds that will use the ucits structure — not only widening the potential pool of investors but also sidestepping the EU’s new draft directive on non-ucits funds and the surrounding uncertainty as the draft is debated.
Today Veritas said it is launching a long/short China ucits fund for top fund manager Ezra Sun, targeting an annual return of 15-20 percent.
Boutiques are back
Starting a hedge fund from scratch has become notoriously difficult in the last couple of years.
Gone are the days, it has been said, when two traders with a terminal could rent out office space in Mayfair and attract a few hundred million dollars. Instead traders are staying put, either in banks (where they can) or in larger hedge funds.
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Fortress’s Adam Levinson on the financial earthquake – BBC World Service
Lehman headache for Paulson – New York Post
Hedge funds’ low-arb diet is at an end – WSJ
Many truths about convertible arbitrage have been forgotten – Opalesque
Liquidity key in new Ucits III funds – Citywire
Watchdogs spell out hedge fund investor protection – Reuters
Regulated are the cheesemakers
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, seen by many as the bane of the UK’s hedge funds industry for his input into the highly controversial EU directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers, no doubt expected a hostile reception today at the Guildhall when he appeared at a debate hosted by Open Europe on the directive.
Whilst widely welcomed for his bravery in appearing, Rasmussen nevertheless came in for heavy criticism from City Minister Paul Myners, fellow panellists and an audience full of hedge fund and private equity representatives, making what was probably an uncomfortable lunchtime for the president of the EU assembly’s socialist bloc.
