23/06/2010
Fixed income funds and the fixed income markets in general have offered investors a relative safe haven from the volatility of recent months.
Most of the funds have ticked along nicely, registering on average anywhere between 75-100bps a month of performance returns. Naturally some funds have performed better than others. The Obsidian Fund is one of those pushing the average up a little with a YTD figure in excess of 12%. While Obsidian remains one of the outstanding performers, others have done well without managing to break double-digit returns.
Another decent performer is the
23/06/2010
Chinese high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) with estimated combined assets of more than $700bn are set to increase allocations into the hedge fund space as the country’s HNWI population continues to grow.
“The amount of capital these Chinese HNWIs are allocating to hedge funds will increase in the future as they continue to allocate their money to a range of asset classes,” confirmed Vicky Lai, vice-president, UK and China coverage at alternatives advisory and placement firm First Avenue Partners.
However, most of this investment activity is currently restricted to Hong Kong, primarily due to the region’s
23/06/2010
The investment board for the $7bn San Diego County Retirement Association (SDCERA) approved investments in two of BlackRock’s global macro strategies last week, as it refreshes its hedge fund portfolio.
SDCERA’s outsourced CIO Integrity Capital, headed by Lee Partridge along with the pension’s internal assistant CIO Lisa Needle, recommended a total commitment of $150m to BlackRock’s funds.
Partridge stated during the meeting that the new investments will be part of the ‘asset allocator’ strategy bucket which includes global macro and CTA strategies. The allocation will be split $115m to the BlackRock Global Ascent Fund (GAF)
23/06/2010
Nearly two-thirds of US foundations are actively investing into the hedge funds sector, while a further 4% are considering making their first foray into the space within the next 6-12 months, according to recently published research by Preqin.
A recent study of 247 US foundations found that 64% are currently investing in hedge fund strategies, with an average allocation of 14.5% of total assets, compared to a mean target allocation of 16.3%.
Funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) were revealed to be the most popular way of allocating to the sector, with 80% of US foundations
23/06/2010
Two major US banks are ploughing ahead with their respective plans to buy and raise funds for hedge funds, despite proposed US regulation, which, if passed, could prohibit them from doing so.
JP Morgan Chase, which already owns hedge fund firm Highbridge Capital Management, is said to be in talks to buy Gávea Investimentos, a $5.3bn Brazilian hedge fund and private equity firm, while Citigroup recently announced plans to raise around $3.5bn for its hedge fund and private equity units over the next two years.
The decisions come in spite of the impending ‘Volcker Rule’,
23/06/2010
Equilibrium Asset Management, a Monaco-based futures manager, is seeking a strategic alliance for its flagship futures offering.
The futures manager is open to selling a minority stake in any potential deal and is speaking to a European bank and family offices that have expressed interest.
Alex Krainer, the firm’s portfolio manager, is looking for an institutional partner to help Equilibrium structure the business.
Equilibrium, which launched in November with friends and family capital, is trend-following in diverse financial and commodity exchange-traded futures. It implements medium-to-low frequency trading. The strategy has a $1bn capacity.
23/06/2010
UK-based listed hedge fund BlueCrest AllBlue Fund has raised over £348m ($516.6m) for its latest share issuance, more than doubling its original target of at least £150m ($220.8m).
The fund, whose latest rights issue represents the second largest asset raising undertaken by a listed hedge fund, is now the third largest in the sector, behind BH Macro and Dexion Absolute, with assets of approximately £808.7m ($1.2bn).
“The size of the fundraising demonstrates that there is still significant interest in the listed hedge fund sector, despite the growth of the Ucits III structure,” said Mark James
22/06/2010
Ex-hedge fund trader and risk manager Anjam Saeed Ahmad of AKO Capital has been sentenced to 10 months, suspended for two years, in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit insider dealing.
Ahmad, whose case was heard at Southwark Crown Court, was further sentenced to 300 hours of community service and fined $50,000.
The case against Ahmad, which was brought by the UK Financial Services Authority, revealed that, between 15 May 2009 and 22 August 2009, he conspired with another individual to trade 19 different securities based on inside information obtained by his role
22/06/2010
NEWSPAPERS AND WIRES
Steven Eisman, the hedge fund manager whose bet against the housing market was chronicled in a best-selling book, will testify before the US Senate after saying for-profit colleges are pushing students to take on government loans they can’t repay, Bloomberg reports. Eisman will be a witness in a 24 June hearing on the industry, according to a list released today by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Eisman is shorting shares of higher-education companies because of parallels he sees to subprime borrowers in the housing market. In both mortgages and educational loans, customers take
21/06/2010
NEWSPAPER AND WIRES
JPMorgan Chase is pushing ahead with talks to buy a large Brazilian hedge fund and private equity group, in spite of impending US legislation designed to limit the involvement of commercial banks in such activities, according to the FT. People close to the situation said the US financial group was in advanced discussions to buy Gávea Investimentos, an asset management company that manages about $5.3bn in assets and was founded by Armínio Fraga, the former president of Brazil's central bank. No deal has yet been reached and the talks could still collapse, but JPMorgan's decision to
