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.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Fundspire, a cloud-based technology provider of performance analytics and reporting for the hedge fund industry, announced record revenue as well as significant client, product and employee growth in 2011.
“We are very pleased to have had an excellent year in 2011 despite the European credit crisis which affected the hedge fund industry,” Christophe Frèrebeau, Chief Executive Officer, said. “We were fortunate to have won a record number of new clients for our analytics platform while retaining 100% of our existing clients.”
Fundspire added a record number of new hedge funds, fund of funds, family offices, advisors and other institutional investors as clients in 2011, growing its global user base in excess of 400 users. About 60% of the new business came from competitive systems that were not cloud based.
In January 2012, Fundspire also opened a new regional office in Chicago allowing it to better serve the US markets. “We’re very serious about expanding our presence and are excited to be able to service and support the asset management community,” Frèrebeau concluded.
New York (HedgeCo.net) - $173 billion hedge fund GlobeOp Financial Services has appointed Tim Ridley to its Cayman Islands subsidiary board. Ridley, the former chairman of the Cayman Island Monetary Authority (CIMA) and a former senior partner of Maples and Calder, was appointed following the recent resignation of Gary Linford.
“I am pleased to join GlobeOp at a time of significant evolution in hedge fund transparency, reporting, and board oversight and responsibility,” Ridley said. “As an independent Tier 1 administrator, GlobeOp offers valuable industry leadership. Counterparty risk, asset verification and regulatory reporting services contribute to good fund governance.”
Ridley served as CIMA chairman from 2004-2008. He is a frequent speaker and writer on financial services and regulatory themes. Ridley is a graduate of Cambridge University (BA) and Harvard Law School (LLM), qualified as a solicitor in England and is an attorney-at-law in the Cayman Islands. For many years, he was a senior partner of the leading Cayman Islands law firm and from 1995 until 2000 headed up the Asia practice in Hong Kong. He specialized in a broad range of international financial transactions. He was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 1996 in recognition for his services to the financial services industry and the local community.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge funds ended a two-month losing streak, profiting from the January market surge. The Hedge Fund Intelligence Global Composite Index rose 1.27%.
The equity market rally handily exceeded hedge fund returns, however, with the MSCI World Index (net) rising 5.02% for the month.
Event-driven funds were the best performers globally with a gain of 3.54% in January. This is the strategy’s best performing month in the history of the HedgeFund Intelligence database, which began collecting data in 1998 (the second best month was November 2004, when the Event Driven Index rose 3.25%).
In the U.S., all strategies were positive except commodities funds, which fell 1.28%. Equity funds rose 2.37% in January, their best start to the year since 2006 when they were up 3.11%. Despite a positive return, emerging market debt funds fell into last place globally, with an almost flat return of 0.30% in January.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Former New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre will receive the “Hedge Funds Care Founder’s Award” at the 14th Annual New York Open Your Heart to the Children Benefit, it was announced today by Hedge Funds Care, an international non-profit organization that raises funds from the hedge fund industry to help prevent and treat child abuse.
The annual benefit, one of the hedge fund industry’s premier events, will take place on Thursday, March 1, 2012, at Cipriani 42nd Street (110 East 42nd Street, New York City) and will unite more than 1,100 senior executives in finance for an elegant evening of cocktails, networking and entertainment in support of a common charitable cause. The co-chairs for the event are Jay Peller, Managing Director of Citco Fund Services, and Joseph Fisher, Partner and the New York Hedge Fund Audit Leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP.
The proceeds will fund programs that prevent and treat child abuse in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Torre will receive the Hedge Funds Care Founder’s Award which is only given in those years when Hedge Funds Care wants to recognize the extraordinary work of an individual to address child abuse. Torre is only the third recipient. He is receiving the award for his outstanding dedication to ending the cycle of domestic violence, and its effects on children, after experiencing abuse as a child in his own home in Brooklyn.
“Protecting our children from abuse should be a national priority, and, as we have seen from the recent news about Penn State, we have a lot of work to do,” said Joe Torre, whose own foundation helps victims of domestic violence, both adults and children. “The dollars we raise at this year’s benefit will help us aid the victims of child abuse by supporting multiple programs throughout the greater Metropolitan area that have a similar mission.”
Given the volatile economy, we are so pleased by the outpouring of support we have already received,” said event co-chair Jay Peller of Citco Fund Services, adding, “Our supporters clearly recognize that Hedge Funds Care is making a tremendous difference in the lives of children every single day and that much more can and needs to be done.”
“Whether at home, on the playing field, at school or a place of worship, children should be safe. Unfortunately, too often they are not. That is why we must raise funds and support those efforts that protect vulnerable children,” said Dr. Kathryn Conroy, Executive Director and CEO, Hedge Funds Care.
Previous event honorees include Michael Novogratz, President of Fortress Investment Group, Kenneth Tropin, Chairman of Graham Capital Management and Michael Vranos, CEO of Ellington Management. Previous Founders Award recipients include Lee Daniels, director of “Precious,” and Sen. Scott Brown, author of “Against All Odds,” his own biography of abuse.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – The UCITS Hedge Fund Alternative Index Global is up 1.37% in January, after a performance of -3.64% in 2011. The Fund of Funds Index is up 0.18% after finishing the year 2011 down -5.25%.
All strategies are positive this month, with Emerging Markets posting the strongest gains with 4.04%. Long/Short Equity and Macro also start the year on a very positive note, up respectively 1.69% and 1.70%. CTA and Volatility somewhat lag the performance of the Global Index, with respective gains of 0.23% and 0.02%.
The UAI Blue Chip is up 1.27% in January, following a negative performance of -3.96% in 2011. It performed in line with the UAI Global Index in 2011 and continues to do so for this first month of 2012.
After a decrease in the last quarter of 2011, the total assets managed by UCITS hedge funds have increased to more than EUR 116 billion in January. At the end of January 2012, the UCITS Alternative Index is composed of more than 820 constituent hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, totaling EUR 116.5 billion assets under management.
New York (HedgeCo.net) - Sal Naro, former co-managing partner of hedge fund Sailfish Capital, a $4.4 billion asset management firm with approximately $2 billion in hedge fund assets, is announcing the launch of Coherence Capital Partners LLC.
“Coherence will look to capitalize on inefficiencies and thematic trends in the capital markets,” Naro said. “Quality research and experience are cornerstones of our business model. Coherence Capital’s primary thesis is to invest in companies that show strong performance in their balance sheets with earnings that meet and beat expectations while taking short positions in credits that miss earnings expectations and suffer continued weakness in their primary business metrics.”
Naro was most recently a shareholder in and Vice Chairman of Jefferson National Financial Corp. and Chief Executive Officer of Jefferson National Asset Management. The creation of Coherence Capital Partners LLC is the result of a management buyout of Jefferson National’s core insurance unit. He will now be Chief Executive Officer of Coherence Capital Partners LLC, which will be a registered investment adviser.
The management team will include Vincent Mistretta, former Head of Portfolio Management at Jefferson National Asset Management, Greg MacKay, its former Chief Operating Officer, and Robert Del Grande, its former Chief Financial Officer. David E. McClean, Ph.D., a regulatory compliance expert with over 25 years of experience and former Chief Compliance Officer of Sailfish Capital, will join Coherence and oversee regulatory matters.
Seward and Kissel LLP, the New York-based law firm, will be representing Mr. Naro and Coherence Capital.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Ader Investment Management (AIM) has launched the Accelerator Fund Partners LP, a funding platform for hedge funds looking to boost assets under management and enhance their distribution into family offices and fund of funds. Individual manager allocations are expected to range from $25 million up to $100 million.
“The last several years have been extremely challenging for raising capital for hedge funds and most of the allocations have gone to the very largest funds” Jason Ader, Chief Executive Officer of AIM, said. “There is a need in the market for a vehicle such as this to provide capital to smaller, proven managers. We have developed a product to invest in talented and experienced fund managers and have designed our platform to help accelerate their business growth and achieve their AUM goals.”
AIM is an SEC registered investment adviser, and is the investment manager to the Accelerator Fund. The fund will focus on liquid long/short equity strategies. It has no plans to pursue debt or credit strategies. While AIM expects its first capital allocations to be made to US based asset managers, the vehicle intends to consider portfolio managers and funds based in the UK, Europe, and Asia that fit the AIM vehicle’s due diligence criteria.
In addition to Jason Ader, who will also serve as Chief Investment Officer, key partners of this newly formed AIM vehicle include Andrew Nelson Chief Financial Officer, Daniel Silvers Managing Director, Alvarez Symonette Managing Director and Laura Conover-Ferchak Chief Compliance Officer. The bios for the fund principals and associates can be found on www.aderinv.com. AIM relies on the knowledge and support of its Advisory Board to enhance the quality of the managers on the platform. It is backed by Pacific Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based merchant bank founded in 1985 by financier and philanthropist Gary Winnick.
Goldman, Sachs & Co. will be the fund’s prime broker. Legal advisors are Bingham McCutchen LLP and Sadis & Goldberg LLP. The fund auditor is Rothstein Kass & Co. In addition to AIM’s internal Risk Team, Risk Management and Reporting is being provided by Risk Resources LLC.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – $627 billion global asset management firm, Legg Mason has launched Permal Hedge Strategies Fund, a fixed income focused multi-manager, multi strategy fund of hedge funds, on February 1, 2012.
“Given market volatility and investor demand for lower risk products, we have seen more desire for lower correlated, alternative investment strategies.” Matt Schiffman, Head of Global Marketing for Legg Mason, said. “We worked collaboratively to bring to market a product that would not only fit investors needs and would bring Permal’s expertise as one of the oldest fund of hedge funds to the retail market.”
The new fund invests in a broad range of fixed income strategies, employing flexible asset allocation and moving capital between credit and non credit strategies. Investments include developed as well as emerging market fixed income and long/short fixed income. There are also smaller allocations to event-driven strategies, such as risk arbitrage, distressed debt, special situations and activists, as well as global macro strategies, including both systematic and discretionary managers, which are intended to mitigate market volatility.
The new fund of hedge funds has been structured to provide investors with 1099 tax reporting and will be available to U.S. accredited investors. The minimum investment is $25,000 and liquidity is quarterly. Permal Hedge Strategies Fund has a high degree of overlap with a flagship Permal fixed income fund and invests in 20 to 40 underlying hedge funds.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Data Explorers, provider of securities lending data, tracking short selling and institutional fund activity across all global market sectors, today announced the launch of its new hedge fund iPhone app, the first of its kind for the global securities lending market.
“The long reign of BlackBerry as the securities lending professional’s favorite gadget is under threat from the new generation of iPhones that have already been adopted by leading financial institutions,” said Jonathan Morris, Chief Operating Officer at Data Explorers.
“We have squeezed 3 million transactions covering $12 trillion of securities in the lending programs of over 20,000 institutional funds into an iPhone app. Our clients can monitor live changes in short selling activity and holdings of institutional investors at a stock, sector and market level, as well access our newswire and video features that are updated throughout the day,” he added.
The Data Explorers iPhone App is a fully featured market data and news application with market and sector overviews, single security tear sheets and customizable watch list, as well as daily news, videos and features about short selling and institutional fund activity. Data is updated throughout the day live from the Data Explorers API, DX Open.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge funds have been the biggest doners to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC, “Restore Our Future.” Almost 60 corporations and wealthy individuals donated at least $100,000 each to the Romney PAC, which raised more than $20 million in the second half of 2011. He has been called “The Wall Street Candidate.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, are the biggest donors to to Newt Gingrich’s PAC ”Winning Our Future”. Gingrich’ promised the Adelsons that he would relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, from Tel Aviv, a move long supported by Mr Adelson. They donated over $12 million.
There used to be strict rules capping donations to PACS at $2500. Corporate and union money was banned from PACs. A 2010 Supreme Court ruling removed the regulations.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – GlobeOp Financial Services has added a hedge fund administration and data centre facility in Airoli in Mumbai. The new office is located in the same Airoli business complex as GlobeOp’s third Mumbai office, opened in 2009.
More than 1,675 of GlobeOp’s 2,000 global employees are based in Mumbai. Within that group are 154 product development professionals, nearly 78% of GlobeOp’s worldwide total. The newest Airoli facility will enable GlobeOp to grow its Mumbai headcount to 2000 employees, divided approximately equally between the two Airoli offices and two earlier offices in Malad.
The building’s design supports the environmental goals of the overall Airoli complex in seeking Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) certification, and in reducing building operating costs. Green technology features range from variable air volume (VAV) air circulation and replacing fluorescent lights with energy efficient LED lighting and optimized natural light. Employee considerations included ergonomically designed work stations and a commercial-grade cafeteria.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund gian Man Group plc announced today that it has signed the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
“This step is a signal of Man’s continued commitment to responsible investing.” Peter Clarke, Chief Executive of Man, said. As a leading alternative asset manager, we hope that by signing up to the UN PRI we will encourage others in the hedge fund industry to follow our lead.”
The PRI is a framework designed to encourage sustainable investing by incorporating environmental, social and governance issues into investment decision-making and ownership practices. Globally, there are 988 signatories, with 126 of these in the UK. Man is the largest UK-based manager of alternative assets to become a signatory.
“Investing sustainably enhances long-term value and reduces risk which is clearly good for all concerned: investment managers, their clients, society and the environment.” Pierre Lagrange, Executive Committee member of Man and Senior Managing Director of GLG, said. “GLG’s efforts predate today’s formal partnership with UN PRI: addressing the UN General Assembly in 2008 on sustainable investing, implementing technology to enable portfolio managers to make more informed investment decisions using ESG and launching a specific Global Sustainability Equity Fund, aimed at reconciling sustainability and economic returns. We are pleased to be able to commit to widening these efforts by signing up to the PRI.”
Some PRI objective that Man has taken on:
• Investing in technology and training to enable investment managers to take ESG factors into account and encourage listed companies to improve on ESG criteria
• Running the GLG Global Sustainability Equity Fund and managing a climate change strategy on behalf of Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers, both UCITS long-only strategies
• Running an effective Corporate Responsibility programme, as judged by inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
• By being a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project and a member of the FTSE4Good
• By support for independent academic teaching and research at the Oxford Man Institute 2
• By supporting charities and local communities through the Man Charitable Trust, as well as sponsorship of the Man Booker literary prizes
Principles for Responsible Investment
1. We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
2. We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
3. We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
4. We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
5. We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
6. We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.
“Man’s support recognises our commitment to help advance the UN PRI agenda, and attests to the positive effects that normative, international frameworks like the PRI bring to the investment community.” Jason Mitchell, Portfolio Manager, GLG Global Sustainability Equity Fund said. “It also marks the next step in a process that began with our legacy in environmental funds, expanded into broader global sustainability themes and is driving our current work developing the application of sustainability across alternative strategies.”
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Fundspire, a cloud-based technology provider of performance analytics and reporting for the hedge fund industry, announced record revenue as well as significant client, product and employee growth in 2011.
