08/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Global hedge funds started 2010 with small losses after markets fell on fears that the global economic recovery was stuttering, data released on Friday show. According to the data from industry tracking group HFR, the average fund dipped 0.71% in January with deeper losses at so-called global macro hedge funds pulling the overall index down, Reuters reports. Other research firms are expected to release their numbers this week.
Brevan Howard, Europe’s largest hedge fund, plans to open an office in Geneva amid growing uncertainty over taxation and market regulation in the UK. In a letter
05/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Hermes Fund Managers will allow all its investors to claw back performance fees, the group told Reuters, in a move that could herald fundamental change in an industry battling client anger over excessive charges. The UK firm – owned by British Telecom's pension fund – will roll out to its entire range the fee structure recently brought in at its hedge fund business as it aims to attract third-party mandates."We are not going to receive the performance fee in one lump sum. We receive a third only. Only if we meet or beat benchmark the following
03/02/2010
The first redrafting of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive by new EU Council president Spain was made public today, just hours after a key Bank of England committee released a report criticising the work of the presidential predecessor.
The Spanish draft – dated 1 February, but published today – has addressed a number of flashpoint issues, concentrating on depositories, third-countries, scope and remuneration. Under the new proposals, depositories will be allowed, where legally permitted, to sublet liability, while the remuneration proposals, though left intact, have been clarified in terms of the staff to who they
03/02/2010
The UK-based University of Cambridge’s £1.05bn ($1.67bn) endowment has revealed fresh plans to increase its sizeable hedge fund allocation, as a number of academic institutions display an increased appetite for hedge fund-
related risk in 2010.
The Cambridge fund, which currently has about 17% exposed to hedge funds, is looking to increase its hedge fund allocation to around 20% by mid-2010, chief investment officer Nick Cavalla told HFMWeek. The move will translate to roughly £31.5m ($50.2m) in fresh investment.
Cambridge currently has investments with 15 managers and is looking to bolster the ranks with a further
03/02/2010
Vicis Capital, the multi-billion dollar hedge fund set up in 2004 by ex-Lehman trader John Succo, has frozen plans to launch a second fund, following a run of investor redemptions.
The options trading manager, where two executives are also currently under investigation by the FBI, had decided to create a second fund after heavy redemptions at the end of last year forced it to impose gates on its flagship product.
At the time, Vicis Capital offered investors the option of siphoning off a portion of the more illiquid assets into a separately traded vehicle, while the
03/02/2010
Record numbers of hedge fund investors are currently entering the secondary market space, taking advantage of record discounts and the renewed interest in hedge fund investment.
Culross Global Management, a UK-based fund of hedge funds (FoHF), is one of many firms currently exploring the sector and is engaged in a number of fresh negotiations, having recently launched a new FoHF designed to trade, in part, in the secondary market.
“There’s more liquidity in the secondary market, month-by-month, than there was last year,” says Chris Keen, a partner with Culross. “There is a steady stream of
03/02/2010
Lighthouse Financial Group has struck a partnership deal with third-party marketing firm Brighton House Associates to boost the cap intro capabilities of its Lighthouse Prime Services division.
Through the partnership, the New York-based boutique prime brokerage business’s clients will gain access to Brighton House's team of over 20 analysts and marketers to provide additional capital introduction and marketing services.
Brighton House will also work alongside Lighthouse at cap intro events the boutique prime broker puts on throughout the year.
Steve Simmons, head of prime services sales, said the Brighton House partnership will give Lighthouse clients
03/02/2010
The investment team at the University of Tennessee endowment is currently considering allocations in a handful of hedge fund managers.
The $600m endowment is particularly interested in managers within the long/short equity arena, said Charles Peccolo, vice president and treasurer.
He revealed Conatus Capital, a long/short fund managed by David Stemerman, formerly of Lone Pine Capital; and Ivory Investment Management, another long/short manager based in Los Angeles, as just two of a number of funds currently being reviewed by the university.
According to the treasurer’s report for 2008, the endowment had around $110m in
03/02/2010
BlueMountain Capital Management has bolstered its capital-raising team as it looks to take advantage of growing inflows into the industry, HFMWeek has learned.
The $4bn credit specialist has added three employees to its existing marketing team of six. Two of the employees will be new to the firm, one based in New York and the other in London. Meanwhile, the third, Josh Drazen, will move into the group from BlueMountain's business management and strategy division, where he has been since 2007.
The firm's expanded marketing team will look to build assets by targeting pensions and endowments
03/02/2010
Sigma Partnership, the hedge fund advisory business, is branching into investment consultancy, as increasing numbers of institutional allocators look for better due diligence on their investments.
Although Sigma will not offer investment advice, it’s new service – called 360° ODD – is a ‘consortium’ of third-party advisors, capable of dealing with a number of key investor concerns, including corporate governance.
Historically limiting itself to the due diligence needs of hedge fund managers, Sigma’s move is timed to take advantage of current fears about the transparency of the sector.
“We are hoping to build relations
