Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Morning Line-Up: Winters’ come back, Pru’s pension, double-dippers
News and views on the asset management industry from Reuters and elsewhere
Ex-JP Morgan Winters starts new fund – FT
Pru in pension top up court case - Guardian
“Double-dippers” in the frame in N.Y. pension debate – Reuters
Morning Line-Up: Japanese hedge, Madoff, Calpers helps probe
News and views on the asset management industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
Japan leads hedge funds return league – Reuters
Madoff says hedge funds, banks knew of his Ponzi scheme – NYT
Morning Line-Up: trading probe, euro, Diamondback
News and views on the asset management industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
Ex-SAC Capital employees charged in trading probe – Reuters
Euro’s volatility catches bearish hedge funds 0ff guard – WSJ
Diamondback investors ask for $534 mln back – Reuters
Charter Hall plays down rift with hedge fund – Sydney Morning Herald
UK universities eye and keep an eye on new hedge fund punts
Pension schemes are moving away from the usual equity/bond/real estate mix to put their eggs in as many baskets as possible. No wonder then that the USS — the 31.6 billion pounds UK universities pension fund — is putting an extra 1.5 percent of its assets, or about 474 million pounds, into hedge funds, as its CIO Roger Gray tells Reuters.
If you are rushing to the phone to pitch business with Mr Gray, however, STOP a minute fund manager: be prepared, the USS is not only eyeing alpha, it is going to ask a few questions about how alpha is distributed and how investors are protected.
“Is the board of the hedge fund constituted in a way which gives us assurance that they are actually acting in the interest of the limited partners rather than in the pocket of the managers?” he said.
Key words for this pitch: governance, transparency, best and practice.
Key advice for this pitch: forewarned is forearmed. (The USS does not seem to need the usual ’caveat emptor’ advice).
Go forth, brave hedgie!
Morning line-up: Paulson, KKR and Horlick
News and views on the fund industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
Morning Line-Up: Insider trading fine, love on AIM, BA pension deal
News and views on the fund industry from Reuters and elsewhere:
Ex hedge fund manager fined £50 K for insider trading - Reuters
Easydate lists on AIM - Scotsman
BA’s pension deal with trustees – Financial Times
Morning line-up: Merkel on Greece, U.S. financial reform, hung parliament
News and views on the fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:
Merkel tells Greece it must cut costs more to get German help – Reuters
Staying positive
There seems to be an endless wave of bad news hitting the hedge fund industry at the moment — gates and suspensions, record poor performance, the Bernard Madoff scandal and so forth – but there are still one or two reasons to be positive.
According to a survey of institutional investors by alternative assets data group Preqin, conducted in January (and therefore after the alleged Madoff fraud came to light), only 8 percent said they were no longer confident about hedge funds and would reduce investments.
By contrast, 26 percent said they would be increasing their allocations this year.
This appears to be a more positive picture than for high net worth individuals, who, according to some anecdotal evidence, have become more cautious on hedge funds.
Institutions such as pension funds, in contrast, tend to have time horizons running into decades, so a year of bad performance is not necessarily the be all and end all.
They have also seen equities, which constitute a far greater portion of their portfolios, plummet last year, leaving hedge funds, relatively speaking at least, looking quite good.
Having followed wealthy individuals into hedge funds and helped fuel the industry’s massive growth of recent years, they could end up supporting it through the difficult times.
Yes, paying more attention to history would probably have helped in this crisis. But it’s a tough one when it comes to hedge funds – the industry has not been going, on this scale at least, for very long so there is not much history to learn from.
