Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Bloomberg – Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, the New York-based hedge-fund manager that went public last year, eliminated at least 10 jobs in Asia, including partner Raaj Shah, said two people familiar with the matter.
The cuts made last week, out of a global workforce of about 460, included employees in the firm’s credit and distressed- investment units, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t publicly announced.
“We have made some minor reductions in Asia, and we remain committed to the region,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement. Hong Kong-based Shah referred calls to the company.
Citadel Investment Group LLC, the Chicago-based firm run by Kenneth Griffin, and New York-based Ramius LLC have also laid off staff in Asia as hedge funds suffer their biggest annual loss and highest investor withdrawals since at least 1990. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index declined 23 percent this year through Dec. 5 amid a global credit squeeze and a more than 40 percent decline in the MSCI World Index.
Bloomberg – Citadel Investment Group LLC, the hedge fund manager founded by Kenneth Griffin, will close down its Tokyo office and Asian principal investments operations, cutting more than half of jobs in the region.
Citadel will run its remaining Asian operations from Hong Kong in the future after shutting the regional principal team that invests in companies undergoing or about to go through mergers and acquisitions, spinoffs, asset sales or legal challenges. Katie Spring, a spokeswoman in Citadel’s Chicago head office, confirmed the decision today.
Hedge funds globally are cutting jobs, limiting withdrawals and liquidating funds as a credit crunch and a 46 percent drop in the MSCI World Index in 2008 put them on course for the worst year on record. Hedge funds have lost 18 percent this year, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc.
Forbes – Fortress Investment Group pulled up the portcullis on its Drawbridge funds Wednesday, but it’s stock is under seige.
Fortress Investment Group‘s directors voted to temporarily suspend pending redemptionsafter investors asked to pull out roughly $3.5 billion by year’s end from its Drawbridge funds, nearly as much as the vehicles have in assets.
Bloomberg – D.E. Shaw & Co. LP, the investment firm run by David Shaw, and Farallon Capital Management LLC limited withdrawals by clients, joining more than 80 hedge-fund managers to impose restrictions in the past two months.
D.E. Shaw, which oversees $36 billion, capped redemptions from its Composite and Oculus funds, said two people familiar with the New York-based company. Farallon, a $30 billion firm based in San Francisco, did the same with its biggest fund after investors asked to get back more than 25 percent of their money.
The firms are two of the biggest to block withdrawals, known as putting up gates, so they aren’t forced to liquidate investments at distressed prices to raise cash. New York-based Fortress Investment Group LLC said yesterday it froze an $8 billion fund after getting redemption requests for 40 percent of its assets. Tudor Investment Corp., the Greenwich, Connecticut, firm run by Paul Tudor Jones, locked the $10 billion BVI Global fund last week ahead of plans to split the fund into two.
FT Alphaville – Centaurus Capital is running down its flagship hedge fund after investors with the London activist failed to back an emergency restructuring. Centaurus, founded by former BNP Paribas traders Bernard Oppetit and Randy Freeman, will now repay the bulk of investors in the $1.2bn Centaurus Alpha fund, with only a handful expected to remain.
The failure to persuade half the investors to lock up their money until June, in return for lower fees, is a surprise as others – including the flagship funds of RAB Capital and Henderson – have won investor backing for similar proposals.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Drake Management has officially closed up shop on all three of its hedge funds, delisting them from the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday.
The firm decided to wind down their $2.5 billion Global Opportunities Fund in May, one month before closing their $1.4 billion Absolute Return Fund and the $160 million Low Volatility Fund. All three funds experienced losses stemming from the credit crunch and a rush of investor withdraws.
The New York-based Drake has expressed plans to launch new funds with revamped strategies.
"We are committed to launching successor vehicles for the funds later this year, for those investors who have expressed a desire to remain invested in strategies substantially similar to those of the funds and to new investors who would like to invest," said the company in a statement earlier this year.
The company has also said that investors who do choose to place their money into the new funds will not pay performance fees until all of their losses are recouped.
Drake Management was founded in 2001 by former BlackRock Manager Anthony Faillace.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Greenwich-based Andor Capital Management will liquidate its $2 billion hedge fund after posting losses due to unfavorable market conditions, following in the footsteps of many failed hedge funds this year.
Co-founder Daniel Benton announced the decision in a letter to investors this week while outlining a liquidation to start in October.
"My desire to devote more time to my family and other interests runs counter to the obligations of a hedge-fund manager who must be immersed in the markets in order to meet client expectations," Benton said in the letter. He also stated that he will be retiring from managing outside capital after 24 years in the business.
In 2004, Andor made headlines when Benton split from Co-Founder Christopher James. At that time, Andor held over $6 billion in assets and was just starting to experience turbulence after a period of enviable returns.
Benton, having been a technology investor at Pequot, built up high stakes in energy and commodities companies. However, the volatility associated with these companies has not translated well for many hedge funds invested in those sectors.
The hedge fund will continue to invest throughout August and September.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Turnberry Capital Management LP has decided to close its doors and liquidate its assets, after many investors inquired about getting their money back. The hedge fund, which specializes in purchasing distressed debt, once held approximately $800 million under management.
"We intend to take a series of steps to liquidate the Fund and redeem all Fund investors at the same pace," Portfolio Manager Jeff Dobbs wrote in a letter to his clients. “After Labor Day, we will commence a sell-down of the Fund’s security holdings in order to raise cash to fund redemptions.”
Being careful not to waste any potential marketing platform, Dobbs also added that he is planning to own a corporate bond portfolio, and that anyone who has an interest in learning more may submit a request.
About 70 percent of the credit derivative book has already been liquidated.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Citigroup Inc. will close its $400 million Tribeca Convertible hedge fund in what will help wind down the $2 billion Tribeca Global Investments Group, according to a report published on Bloomberg.com. The closing of the fund has not yet been made public, but investor redemptions are thought to be the reason for the fund’s demise.
The fund uses a convertible arbitrage strategy, which involves acquiring company bonds that can be converted to common stock which in turn may be shorted. Tribeca Convertible was down a mere 5 percent this year.
This is the latest failure in a string of attempts by Citigroup to offer their clients a broader array of alternative investments. Two months ago they closed the $800 million Old Lane Partners, founded by Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, after investors redeemed over $200 million.
Citigroup was hit hard by the subprime-related mortgage fallout last summer, forcing its hedge funds to suffer. The bank’s Falcon Strategies funds were closed this year, even after a $500 million influx of capital by Citigroup.
CSO Partners, another hedge fund run by Citigroup also closed its doors this year after suspending investor redemptions. The company wrote down over $15 billion in losses the first two quarters of 2008.
Tribeca Convertible Portfolio Managers Andrew Wang and Jeffry Chmielewski are rumored to be thinking about starting their own fund.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – New York hedge fund Manhasset Capital will start the liquidation process later this month after the decision was made by the fund’s seeder to pull out their $100 million initial investment.
A spokesperson for Fairfield stated, ““As part of a normal rebalancing of capital, FGG has indeed decided to close its co-branded single manager fund, Fairfield Manhasset Offshore Fund Ltd., which we created as part of an agreement with Manhasset Capital Management. However, we cannot comment on any of Manhasset Capital’s choices; they run their own business and have their own investors, and it would be incorrect to state that FGG had caused Manhasset’s current or future decisions.”
Fairfield Greenwich Group, who seeded Manhasset’s offshore fund and had a three-year profit sharing agreement with the firm, decided to pull out just a month and a half after the agreement expired on May 1st. Manhasset ran an onshore fund as well, which engaged in a long/short equity strategy and focused on mid-cap U.S stocks. Total assets of both funds were around $165 million.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
CNNMoney.com – It’s time to say goodbye to Old Lane, the hedge fund management company bought by Citigroup last July.
Citi paid a very dear $800 million to snag the fund and its founder Vikram Pandit, who now runs the entire bank, but the fund’s investors got very little out of the deal. One wonders whether Old Lane was doomed from the moment it was bought, and whether death is the fate of funds that become part of Wall Street conglomerates like Citi (C, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and UBS (UBS) – the mega-banks that have rolled up merchant bankers, trading floors, and personal wealth management groups.
True, the hedge fund had problems independent of Citi, generating a modest 6.5% in its first year and falling about 6% amid last August’s credit turmoil. It continued to lag other multi-strategy funds thanks to bad credit bets. But problems at Old Lane are the latest in a string of blowups at banks that operate hedge funds. UBS shuttered its Dillon Read Capital Management last May due to big credit losses; and those problems gave markets a warning shot of the credit crisis to come.
The implosion of two highly leveraged credit hedge funds last June was the beginning of the end for Bear Stearns. And Goldman Sachs’ flagship Global Alpha fund began 2007 with $10 billion and ended the year with about $4 billion. Each of these debacles has had its own special flavor, but they all show how hedge funds can lose their mojo when they live within a big, bureaucratic institution.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Troubles keep arising for Bear Stearns, even after its demise and the resulting takeover by JPMorgan Chase. It seems investors are still targeting Bear after the implosion of their two failed hedge funds last year that kicked off the subprime mortgage crisis.
Federal prosecutors, along with the SEC, may bring criminal charges against Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, who ran the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Master Fund and the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Master Fund.
The two funds at one point managed upwards of $20 billion, with a majority of their assets invested in subprime-mortgage backed securities. As homeowners started defaulted on their mortgages at record rates, these securities plummeted in value, and creditors started to demand more collateral.
Even an influx of $1.6 billion by Bear Stearns could not save the funds, and assets were subsequently frozen. Both funds eventually filed for bankruptcy with only a small portion remaining of investor’s money.
A failed request at a Cayman Islands liquidation sealed the deal for Bear, who no longer could shield the fund’s assets from investors.
The question arises of whether or not Bear Stearns overstated their securities values to shareholders. At times, the two managers were quoted as reporting the performance of the funds as “positive,” when in reality, it was down as much as 38%.
According to the Wall Street Journal, securities fraud charges may be filed against the two men by next week.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
