Morning line-up: Cadbury, Lords, The Terminator

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All very British

The debate over the EU hedge fund directive at this week’s Edhec-Risk conference in London was in danger of becoming all a bit too friendly before one delegate’s intervention.

“Isn’t it the case that you’re all being terribly polite?” she asked, drawing widespread applause from the hedge fund industry audience with the suggestion that most of the panel secretly believed the controversial regulation may be driven a rather sinister rivalry between EU member countries.

The EC’s representative on the panel was forced to defend his position.

“I have no idea of member (states’) intentions,” he said. “(But) I don’t consider myself to be part of a Franco-German plot.”

Morning line-up: DE Shaw, euro, Galleon

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Morning line-up: Brevan, BofE, business models

News and views on the hedge fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:

Hedge funds perform well amid business model changes – HedgeWeek

Brevan Howard staff in London to be offered Geneva move – FT

Bluegold denies market rumours

A denial from London-based hedge fund Bluegold that they are responsible for a drop in the oil price. Any investors out there who’ve got intelligence to share on this? Drop us a line.

RTRS-UPDATE 1-BlueGold says not behind oil fall     * BlueGold’s activity no different to last 6-7 months    * Denies “false rumours” surrounding operations    * “Toxic mix” pressures oil prices again on Friday        By Emma Farge and Joe Brock    LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – BlueGold Capital, a hedge fund managing $1.5 billion, said it was not responsible for recent crude price falls after market talk it had sold long positions helped send oil down 5 percent on Thursday.    “We utterly and completely deny it,” Dennis Crema, chief executive officer of the oil focused fund, told Reuters by telephone. “Activity was no different from activity in the last 6-7 months.”     Crude oil futures fell on Thursday in heavy volume. Several traders and brokers at different firms said they thought the sell-off in crude was linked to a hedge fund quickly unloading a big oil position.    There was widespread talk among traders in New York and London that BlueGold was a large seller of long crude positions.    Crema said BlueGold was continuing business as usual. “We…deny any false rumours surrounding BlueGold’s continuing operations,” he added.    Even if there was liquidation of some length by BlueGold, it was not clear what impact this might have had, as the market was under pressured by several bearish developments.    Other factors cited for the falls in crude were the stronger dollar, worries about the health of the euro zone together with weaker stock markets — a powerful negative combination for oil which one analyst described on Friday as a “toxic mix”. [O/R]    More than 496 million barrels worth of front-month NYMEX crude futures changed hands — enough oil to meet global demand for six days — as volumes spiked in late trade on Thursday, according to Reuters data.    Currently, U.S. crude costs around $73 a barrel. BlueGold’s $1.5 billion would be enough to buy about 20.5 million barrels.    For a FACTBOX on BlueGold, click here: [ID:nLDE6140WP]     ICE Brent crude futures also saw very high volumes of trade with a total of 567,000 lots changing hands — not far below the all-time record of 581,000 lots seen on Dec. 9 of last year. A busy day often sees volumes of around 300,000 lots.    Crema told Reuters BlueGold had a bullish view on oil prices this year, albeit in challenging conditions.    “At the current time we maintain our bullish outlook for the price of oil in 2010,” Crema said. “It’s a difficult trading environment.”    BlueGold was co-founded in February 2008 by Pierre Andurand and Dennis Crema, both former oil traders at Vitol.

Morning Line-Up

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Hedgie Sprott sees gold at $1,500 in 2010 - Bloomberg

Citi loses two prop traders to hedge funds – sources - Reuters

Apples, pears and Ucits

Ucits funds have undoubtedly benefited from the uncertainty surrounding the AIFM directive.

A number of hedge funds have opted to launch products in the Ucits format — automatically avoiding the directive, which focuses on non-Ucits funds — rather than wait and see how the long-running political battle plays out.

Man Group and Cheyne Capital are among those to have announced plans, while start-up Nexar has said it may launch funds using this structure.

However, at a breakfast meeting at the Townhouse in London’s West End today, Claude Kremer, chairman of Alfi (the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry), confirmed the industry is looking at a voluntary labelling of funds.

Morning Line-Up

News and views on the hedge fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:

Mandelson to hold hedge fund talks - Sky News Blogs

Hedge fund startup assets declined 36% in 20009 - Bloomberg

Volcker says banks should not act like hedge funds – MarketWatch

Morning Line-Up

News and views on the hedge fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:

David Tepper is the happiest man in hedge funds- Absolute Return-Alpha

Fund managers may return 20 percent of bonuses under EU law – Bloomberg

Morning Line-Up

News and views on the hedge fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:

Pension schemes regain faith in hedge funds - FT

Hedge funds launch attack on Endemol – City AM