23/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Hedge funds will increase their investments in distressed debt and equity this year and expect to make more money doing it, the Reuters HedgeWorld & Dykema 2010 Insolvency Outlook Survey found. The most attractive areas for distressed investing in the next 12 months will be banking, energy and healthcare, according to the survey by the daily news service HedgeWorld and the law firm Dykema. Of the 120 hedge fund managers who answered the questionnaire by email in December and January, 65% said at least some of their portfolios were invested in financially troubled companies, up from
22/02/2010
A new venture between Stanley Fink’s International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) and Hite Capital Management (HCM), the hedge fund firm founded by systematic trading genius Larry Hite, looks set a yield two new funds in the coming months, including a fund of managed accounts.
The first fund, ISAM Systematic, is scheduled for April and will be run by Hite. Reports suggest it could eventually manage as much as $6bn. This is to be followed with the launch of ISAM Fusion Fund, the managed accounts product.
The strategic partnership sees Fink and Hite united once again following
22/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Stanley Fink, the former chief executive of Man Group, is set to return to the forefront in a tie-up with one of the industry's biggest names, reports the FT. Fink's hedge fund management company ISAM, established after leaving Man three years ago, will this week announce plans for a strategic partnership with Hite Capital Management, the hedge fund run by Larry Hite, the creator of so-called systematic trading and one of Wall Street's most revered money makers. The partnership will see ISAM launch a new fund, ISAM Systematic, in April, according to people familiar with the
19/02/2010
Fund manager Gottex has teamed up with FrontPoint Partners, the multi-strategy investment management firm, to form a new direct lending venture. The move sees the two firms seeking to capitalise on the current dislocation in the loan market to small and mid-sized companies.
The venture will focus on making secured loans to US and European middle market companies, utilising both FrontPoint’s Direct Lending strategy and a customised Gottex Direct Lending strategy, and will be managed by direct-lending specialist Steve Cezh. Cezh, who has 20 years experience in the leveraged finance space, will head up the operation from
19/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Hedge fund firm GLG Partners saw assets under management rise marginally in the final quarter of last year as it benefited from client money returning to the industry and modest performance gains, Reuters reports. The London-based, New York-listed firm said assets rose 2.5% during the three months to December to $22.2bn, helped by $723m of net client inflows, particularly into the firm's segregated client accounts. "I am confident that GLG remains well positioned to be a leading beneficiary as industry flows expand," said chairman and co-chief executive Noam Gottesman.
BlueBay Asset Management, a London-based manager
18/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Butterfield Fulcrum, the alternative fund administration firm, today announced the launch of Altinus, an independent managed accounts platform that provides segregated and comingled managed accounts. The platform, the details of which were first revealed by HFMWeek, is the first administrator-sponsored managed accounts offering. “It is designed to eliminate service and fee duplication by allowing allocators to determine investment allocation,” said Akshaya Bhargava, Butterfield Fulcrum's CEO.
Man Group share gains slowed, but were still Wednesday's top FTSE 100 riser after a source close to BlackRock said the US fund firm had no interest in buying the
17/02/2010
NEWSPAPERS & WIRES
Firms run by John Paulson, Eric Mindich and George Soros purchased almost half a billion shares in Citigroup last quarter as more than 120 hedge funds said they bought stock in the bank, reports Bloomberg. Paulson & Co reported a stake equal to 506.7 million shares in New York-based Citigroup, up from about 300 million at the end of the third quarter, according to a government filing yesterday. Mindich’s Eton Park Capital Management acquired 138 million shares, making the company its largest holding. Soros Fund Management reported 94.7 million shares worth $313.4m.
Billionaire investor George
17/02/2010
The $134.1bn California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), the US’s second largest public pension fund, is putting the final pieces in place to make its first ever hedge fund investment.
Unlike its close peer, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), CalSTRS has held off making any investments in hedge funds in the past, but is now seeking a specialist investment consultant to help the fund with its first hedge fund manager search, a CalSTRS spokesperson exclusively told HFMWeek.
“Hedge funds are being looked at as a diversifier to the portfolio,” he said, and while
17/02/2010
Butterfield Fulcrum, the global hedge fund administration company, is planning to roll out a major managed account platform in April, HFMWeek can exclusively reveal.
The new service, named Altinus , or Alternative Investment Utility Service, will be the first to market in an expected stream of managed account-style offerings from hedge fund administration firms, and is expected to open with near to $1bn in assets under management (AuM).
Sources close to Butterfield Fulcrum, which is owned by private equity house 3i and currently provides an administration service for $72bn in hedge fund assets, say the
17/02/2010
Joe Russell, formerly with Citadel Investment Group, is in the process of setting up a hedge fund, HFMWeek can reveal. The fund is called Bellpoint Capital, according to a source familiar with the plans.
At Citadel, Russell was the key driver behind the hedge fund's $2.55bn investments in E* Trade Financial Corp and also pushed for the fund's purchase of assets from Sowood Capital.
According to reports, Russell departed Ken Griffin's hedge fund titan in September 2008 after disagreements over how to manage his division at the firm, the fundamental credit group, the smallest and
