11/08/2010
NEWSPAPERS AND WIRES
Two hedge funds have significantly reduced their stakes in troubled social housing repairs group Connaught, after the value of its holding plunged by more than £13m ($20.5m), reports Reuters. Parvus Capital Management has exited its 18.06% stake with a loss of £70m ($110.4m), most of which was held through contracts for difference. Breeden European Partners declared a 13% stake, or 18 million shares at the start of July, but following Connaught’s announcement that the firm would make a loss for the year, this stake was cut to 6%, or 8 million shares. Breeden’s holding has plummeted
11/08/2010
FletcherBennett Group, a hedge fund consulting firm, and Invus Financial Advisors, an alternative investment manager in New York, have formed a joint venture to launch a fund of hedge funds (FoHF), HFMWeek has learned.
The new investment manager, called FB Lake, will roll out its maiden offering in October, which will allocate to emerging managers in the long/short equity space. The managers can be geographically focused or have a sector bias.
“In the post-2008 environment, we are seeing a tremendous number of new talented managers and at the same time, the industry is incredibly capital-constrained
11/08/2010
The $32bn State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland is close to hiring four senior investment analysts as it continues towards its 7% hedge fund allocation target.
“We are considering some highly qualified candidates focusing on hedge funds, fixed income, private equity and real return for positions in the investment team,” said Mike Ruetz, chief risk officer at Maryland, speaking about the search that was started in April.
The pension system has $1.44bn (4.5%) invested in hedge funds at the moment, but is aiming to reach 7%, according to Ruetz. Maryland’s long-term absolute return target,
11/08/2010
Praesidium Investment Management Company, a New York-based value-oriented investment firm, has launched a fund after running the strategy via managed accounts since March 2008.
The Praesidium Strategies Opportunities Fund, which runs along side the managed accounts, debuted 1 August and employs a private enterprise approach to public company investing. It invests in businesses trading at a material discount to their underlying intrinsic values, based on the firm’s assessment of the discretionary free cash flow the company will generate over time. It is a concentrated long-only fund with 13-15 positions.
Michael Ware, senior analyst, said Praesidium
11/08/2010
Following two consecutive months of declines, the hedge fund industry moved back into positive territory in July with only two strategy indices posting negative returns, the latest Hedge Fund Research (HFR) data has revealed.
Improving conditions in the global equity markets and diminishing concerns about sovereign credit risk saw the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gain 1.82%, bringing year-to-date (YTD) performance to 1.52%.
Equity hedge strategies were July’s best performers, with the HFRI EH Energy/Basis Materials Index and the HFRI EH Quantitative Directional Index posting returns of 3.70% and 3.62% respectively, while the HFRI Equity
11/08/2010
Responsibility for sales at Deutsche Bank’s Ucits platform has been assigned to Angharad Fitzwilliams, director of the firm’s hedge fund capital group, following the resignation of former chief James Orme-Smith, HFMWeek has learned.
Sources close to developments say Fitzwilliams, the current author of the German bank’s annual Alternative Investment Survey, will not be assuming Orme-Smith’s role as such, but the new Ucits-based responsibilities will see her standing within the firm rise.
The rest of Orme-Smith’s responsibilities are to be allocated to other Deutsche bank staff, rather than a new hire, the source said. Deutsche Bank
11/08/2010
Fidelity Prime Services, a top-tier prime broker, is expected to build out a capital introductions team for the first time and has hired industry veteran Stuart Feldman of Jefferies & Co to make a foray into the space, HFMWeek has learned.
According to a source familiar with the firm's plans, Feldman will head Fidelity Prime Services' new division. He has been at Jefferies & Co over two years and previously held positions as COO at Pomeroy Capital and Sands Point Capital Management.
Fidelity Prime Services has more than 100 hedge fund clients, with an average
11/08/2010
Despite the upturn in equities markets in July, not all funds were effectively placed to take advantage. Horseman Global welcomed the surge in July; it managed to post 5.15% and has clawed back a little more than half its losses, leaving it down 4.95% YTD.
However, Sloane Robinson was one of the fund houses unable to take advantage in July, compounding a pretty miserable year so far for the London-based manager. The Sloane Robinson Global Fund is down 17.43% YTD after a 3.2% drop through 21 July; the Sloane Robinson Global fund Europe fell 2.5% and is
11/08/2010
Equities markets rallied strongly and unexpectedly in July, with the FTSE 100 posting 7% gains. The rise came off the back of three depressed months, and vindicated the ‘smart money’ moves made by hedge funds to lower their beta exposure and rein in risk taking.
Investors took the lead from hedge fund managers by pulling back their own exposure to the equity hedge strategy, which experienced $1.4bn outflows in the second quarter as investors made their way into fixed income and macro instead. The question that remains is: how long will hedge funds sit on the sidelines,
11/08/2010
Sector Asset Management, the Oslo-based $1.5bn investment manager, has launched a technology-focused hedge fund.
The Sector Technology fund debuted earlier this summer with $3.6m and has a capacity of 500m. With 30-45 positions, it is a global long/short strategy that invests in telecom technology, software, hardware and telecom operators, among other areas.
David de Picciotto, sales director, said Sector decided to roll out a technology offering on the premise the sector has high stock-specific risk and high return dispersion.
“This means that you don’t have to take big net-long or net-short exposure to
