Building a series of engineered structures called diversions along the lower Mississippi River will yield tens of billions of dollars in net annual benefits to the nation and hedge against future disasters, according to a new report co-authored by 22 prominent scientists and engineers.

The report, “Answering 10 Fundamental Questions about the Mississippi River Delta,” makes a scientific and economic case for restoring the Mississippi River Delta wetlands, which have shrunk in size by nearly 1,900 square miles since the 1930s. The report also makes the case for re-engineering the aging lower Mississippi River flood-control and navigation systems, which are increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic failures.

“Our research reveals considerable consensus within and across scientific disciplines about how the Mississippi River Delta functions and what actions must be taken to ensure long-term sustainability,” the report says. “It is clear that immediate action is warranted and is essential to the future stability of our nation’s economy.”

The report projects annual losses to the United States of $41 billion if the delta continues to collapse unchecked. Conversely, it estimates an annual net benefit of at least $62 billion if the delta can be maintained and expanded. The report also makes it clear that the only way to maintain delta wetlands in the long term is through the construction and operation of structures called diversions, which release water and sediment from the river into the wetlands, mimicking historical flows. The report concludes that the use of diversions will satisfy a number of interlocking demands.

The report is timely because the Louisiana legislature is currently considering the state’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan, which relies heavily on river diversions to turn the tide on the state’s ongoing land loss crisis. The plan lays out a 50-year vision for protecting and restoring the coast, including increased hurricane risk reduction for coastal communities and eventually reaching a net growth, rather than a let loss, of wetlands.

A recent telephone survey found that 67 percent of likely voters nationwide believe it is an “extremely” or “very” important priority for the federal government to take steps to restore the Mississippi River Delta and that overwhelming numbers (84 percent) believe the Mississippi River Delta and Gulf Coast affect the nation’s economy.

The Mississippi River Delta Science and Engineering Special Team, which produced the report, is a network of eminent scientists and engineers convened by the National Audubon Society, the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation to provide objective and independent analysis pertaining to Mississippi River Delta restoration.

The report released this week is a precursor to scientific articles that will be published in peer-reviewed journals and a book slated for release in the coming months.

New York (HedgeCo.net) – HedgeCo Networks (HedgeCo), the pioneering hedge fund database and advisory firm, today named Brett Langbert President and Chief Operating Officer. Langbert, who spent 17 years on Wall Street covering hedge funds across a multitude of sectors and strategies, was most recently a managing director at UBS, responsible for the firm’s prime brokerage sales for the Americas.

Prior to UBS, he was a managing director at Morgan Stanley, where he co-managed cash sales trading for the Americas, merger arbitrage and capital structure arbitrage. Before Morgan Stanley, Langbert spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs, where he ran parts of the convertible arbitrage business and a volatility desk.

“Brett is joining HedgeCo as the next exciting phase in the hedge fund industry is unfolding. The ability of hedge funds to deliver non-correlated returns continues to attract new investors who want to diversify their portfolios,” said Evan Rapoport, the CEO of HedgeCo.

Langbert joins HedgeCo as federal legislation is set to repeal the ban on hedge fund general solicitation.  It is anticipated that the bulk of the money set to flow into hedge fund marketing as a result of these new rules would come from emerging hedge funds, an area HedgeCo specializes in.

“HedgeCo’s unique approach to helping start-ups and emerging manager funds represents a significant business opportunity and I am excited by the opportunity to leverage my experience in this entrepreneurial environment,” said Langbert.

Langbert holds Series 7, 63, 3, 55, 9 and 10 securities licenses. He graduated from Colgate University with a B.A. in Political Science.

About HedgeCo Networks

HedgeCo, LLC (http://www.hedgeco.net/) manages HedgeCo, the premier hedge fund database and information portal. It is ranked in the top five hedge fund sites for traffic and offers a variety of other websites devoted to the specific needs of hedge funds. HedgeCo offers a wide variety of services, including hedge fund website design, consultation, third party marketing, seeding, and prime brokerage introductions.

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index closed down 0.82% in March as most of the index component strategies reported negative results for March.

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index provides daily published index values which seek to enable investors to track the impact of market events on the hedge fund industry.

        Index                                         Mar-12 Feb-12 YTD 2012
        Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index -0.82% 1.31%  2.75%
        Convertible Arbitrage                         0.18%  2.34%  6.09%
        Emerging Markets                              -0.98% 1.83%  2.64%
        Event Driven                                  -0.02% 1.47%  4.39%
        Fixed Income Arbitrage                        0.05%  0.43%  1.42%
        Global Macro                                  -0.06% 0.93%  2.84%
        Long/Short Equity                             -2.54% 2.05%  2.65%
        Managed Futures                               -2.11% 0.69%  -0.50%

PRNewswire - LPL Financial LLC, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer* and a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Investment Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA), today announced the launch of WomenInvest, a new marketing and practice management platform.  WomenInvest provides a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to help financial advisors build their businesses and increase referrals by more effectively marketing to and serving women investors.

The new platform includes customizable and compliance-approved marketing materials, best practices materials for working with women investors, original research on behavioral psychology, and much more.  All tools and resources are free of charge and accessible through a web-based marketing gateway exclusive to LPL Financial advisors.

Marissa Fox-Foley, Executive Vice President of Marketing at LPL Financial, said, “There is no doubt that women investors represent a tremendous, growing opportunity for advisors, and we are confident that WomenInvest provides LPL Financial advisors with the support they need to more effectively reach out to and serve this important segment of the population.”

Unique within the broker-dealer industry, WomenInvest aligns its tools and resources around four major life stage segments identified by LPL Financial through extensive original research in partnership with third-party thought leaders.  These life stages, which drive the majority of investors’ attitudes and priorities toward money and investing, are as follows:

• In Relationships , where the emphasis is on enabling advisors to effectively engage with both partners in a marriage or domestic union
• In Transition , in which the focus is on providing support to women investors during a time of significant life change, such as a career transition, divorce or death of a spouse
• In Business , which identifies strategies for advising professional women, including women who are business owners or have inherited significant assets
• In Retirement , where the emphasis is on enabling the advisor to work closely with women investors in developing financial strategies that support the goals of living longer and better

Mark Brown, an independent financial advisor who serves as Managing Partner at Denver, Colorado-based Brown & Tedstrom, Inc., an independent wealth management firm with over $400 million in brokerage and advisory assets under management with LPL Financial, said, “I am very excited by the potential of WomenInvest.  This new platform underscores how LPL Financial is constantly focused on enhancing the ability of advisors to support their clients.  As an advisor who has always been committed to serving the needs of women investors, it is also gratifying to see recognition within our industry of the importance of women as financial decision-makers.”

Cam Neri, an LPL Financial-affiliated independent advisor who serves as Managing Partner at San Jose, California-based Retirement Capital Strategies, an independent wealth management firm with over $200 million in assets under management, said, “The WomenInvest program’s focus on four key life cycle stages for women, with specific tools and resources around each, is an innovative approach that will enhance my ability to serve women investors while helping to accelerate the growth of my practice.  The platform is both comprehensive and user-friendly, and I am confident that it will enable us to rapidly add even greater value to our client relationships.”

Marissa Fox-Foley concluded, “Our research shows that women investors tend to be loyal, satisfied with their advisor relationships and willing to provide referrals.  However, success in serving women investors requires a nuanced understanding of their needs at each phase of their lives, and an approach to financial planning that works for them.  We are pleased to support our advisors with this increasingly critical client demographic.”

About LPL Financial
LPL Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Investment Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA), is the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2011), a top RIA custodian, and a leading independent consultant to retirement plans. LPL Financial offers proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 12,800 financial advisors and approximately 670 financial institutions. In addition, LPL Financial supports over 4,000 financial advisors licensed with insurance companies by providing customized clearing, advisory platforms and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have more than 2,700 employees with headquarters in Boston, Charlotte, andSan Diego. For more information, please visit www.lpl.com.

Maples Fund Services, a leading independent global fund services provider and a division of MaplesFS, has been honoured as Best European Administrator for Small and Start-up Firms by HFMWeek.

The award comes on the heels of MaplesFS’ launch of its Incubator product, which is a dedicated offering for prospective and start-up managers. The Incubator product allows the prospective fund manager to build a credible, verifiable track record using premier, independent service providers in advance of the decision to go public and launch a full investment fund. MaplesFS supports these managers in establishing a track record and grows with them as they progress beyond the incubator stage, targeting capital from larger investors with more rigorous due diligence and reporting requirements.

“Professional investors expect an institutional infrastructure and this can be a challenge for small and start-up fund managers. With the backing of a robust operating model and infrastructure, our offering provides a solution to managers emerging in this tough environment,” Toni Pinkerton, Global Head of Fund Services, said.

HFMWeek’s European Hedge Fund Services Awards recognise service providers that have performed exceptionally over the past year. Companies are evaluated by a panel of independent judges made up of industry experts on a range of criteria, including client satisfaction, innovation and revenue growth.

Last year Maples Fund Services was honoured as Best US Administrator under $30 billion for Funds of Hedge Funds by HFMWeek, Best European Administrator under $30 billion – Innovation by HFMWeek, and European Hedge Fund Administrator of the Year (AUA < $100bn) by ICFA Magazine.

About Maples Fund Services

Maples Fund Services is an independent global fund services provider. It has offices in leading financial centres, including the Cayman Islands, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Montreal and New York. The firm provides a wide range of services to onshore and offshore funds. The firm’s clients include investment management firms, institutional investors, pension plans and global financial institutions. Maples Fund Services is led by a team of experienced professionals and is committed to providing a high level of service, tailored to specific client requirements.

Charlotte, North Carolina – Financial Research Associates (FRA) is proud to bring back the highly acclaimed 4th Annual Mastering Due Diligence for Alternative Investments conference to New York City at the Princeton Club of NYC on Tuesday, April 3 and will continue through Wednesday, April 4, 2012.

This event will cover a variety of topics, including: Specific examples from institutional investors about what they expect from their fund managers; How to effectively handle the complex valuation process; Innovative transparency, liquidity, and control (TLC) initiatives; Mitigating counterparty risk and protecting assets; Thorough background checks that go beyond just your investment managers; Operational due diligence from all angles; Regulations: from Dodd Frank to AIFM Directives and everything in between; Effectively integrating wide-ranging investment, operational, and compliance due diligence; Digging deeper for emerging managers…and more!

Notable speakers include representatives from Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company LLC, Yeshiva University Investment Office, Castle Hall Alternatives, Protégé Partners LLC, Southport Harbor Associates LLC, The Regulatory Fundamentals Group LLC, Terra Foundation for American Art, FQS Captial Partners (U.S.) LP, Skyview Investment Advisors LLC, Mercer Sentinel Group, MD Sass, Neuberger Berman, Jones Day, Joseph Decosimo and Company PLLC, Skybridge Capital, Franklin Park, Pacific Life Insurance, Arden Asset Management LLC, ABS Investment Management, Drexel University, Pension Consulting Alliance, Morgan Creek Capital Management LLC, Opus Prize Foundation, Broadmark Asset Management LLC, Dahab Associates, Inc., Merlin, PPCA, NEPC LLC, TIAA-CREF, and Luxembourg Investment Solutions S.A.

Financial Research Associates (FRA) provides the financial community with access to businesss information and networking opportunities. Offering highly targeted conferences, FRA is a preferred resource for executives and managers seeking cutting-edge information on the next wave of business opportunities. For additional information on Financial Research Associates (FRA), please visit their website at: www.frallc.com.

PRNewswire – The founders of Marvell Technology Group, Dr. Sehat Sutardja and Ms. Weili Dai, are preparing to amend their claim filed with the San Francisco office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Goldman Sachs GS -0.18% and two account executives, alleging Goldman Sachs defrauded the two Silicon Valley executives of several hundreds of millions of dollars in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis.

At that time, Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai were two of the largest victims of fraud by Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Group. Today’s breaking news reveals there will be an amended FINRA Claim based on new evidence that Goldman Sachs engaged in secret re-titling into Goldman’s name alone of over 20 million shares owned by two founders of Marvell, Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai. In a series of transactions eerily similar to MF Global, currently under Congressional investigation for misusing client funds, the amended FINRA Claim will allege Goldman Sachs secretly instructed the stock transfer agent to obtain title to the Marvell shares only in Goldman Sachs’ name, without their clients’ permission.

Recent information revealed Goldman Sachs re-titled over 20 million shares of its clients’ Marvell stock so that, as will be asserted in the amended FINRA Claim, Goldman could trade on its own account, create a market for its affiliated hedge funds and, ultimately, recapitalize its accounts to be used to help save the Firm from financial ruin at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. In the midst of a financial crisis, the FINRA Claim contends Goldman put its own interests ahead of its clients’ interests.

A linchpin of Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai’s FINRA Claim is the allegation Goldman unlawfully re-titled into Goldman’s name alone over 20 million Marvell shares owned by Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai without client knowledge or authorization. Newly discovered hard evidence establishes this claim. It is questionable whether, under federal regulations, a brokerage firm is permitted to cause a client’s shares to be placed in the brokerage firm’s name absent the express consent of the client. It was not until April 2011 that Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai discovered Goldman’s re-titling. Thus, Goldman Sachs had over 20 million shares in its name alone from January 2008 to April 2011, even though the shares were actually owned by its clients.

“The best circumstantial evidence supporting our clients’ FINRA Claim is the amount of money Goldman Sachs made in proprietary trading during the time frame 2008-2011,” said attorney Joseph Cotchett, of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, one of the attorneys representing Marvell’s co-founders.

In January, 2008, under the guise of a margin account, Goldman undertook steps to re-title in its own name “GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO” over 20,000,000 Marvell shares then held by Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai. Goldman had represented all re-registered shares would indicate on the face of the stock certificate “GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. FOR BENEFIT OF SEHAT SUTARDJA” or, in the alternative, “GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. FOR BENEFIT OF WEILI DAI.”

Clear instructions were transmitted to the American Stock Transfer & Trust Company of Brooklyn, New York to indicate “GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. FOR BENEFIT OF SEHAT SUTARDJA” or, in the alternative, “GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO. FOR BENEFIT OF WEILI DAI” on the face of the stock certificate. At the specific request of Goldman Sachs, these instructions were not followed.

As recently confirmed by an email from the American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, “The requests (to re-title the shares) came in from Goldman Sachs, and … by their instruction letter, it was requested that we place (the shares) in the name of Goldman Sachs.”

Thus, the American Stock Transfer & Trust Company confirmed that, instead of re-registering Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai’s Marvell shares into Goldman’s name for the benefit of Dr. Sutardja or Ms. Dai, Goldman re-titled over 20 million of Claimant’s Marvell shares into Goldman’s name alone. Indeed, on the transfer assignment control forms Goldman filed with the Depository Trust Company, Goldman indicated Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai’s shares were “TO BE REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF GOLDMAN SACHS & CO” alone.

The significance of Goldman’s re-registering shares then worth over $120 million dollars goes to Goldman’s motives behind the unlawful transfers. Under federal securities laws regulating short sales, before a short sale can be made, the shares must be borrowed. Often hedge funds pay brokerage firms such as Goldman Sachs to loan shares to the fund. By re-titling Claimants’ shares into Goldman’s name alone, Goldman created liquidity, i.e., it could trade, lend, and put up as collateral Claimants’ Marvell shares for Goldman’s own account, without Claimants’ consent, i.e. proprietary trading.

The FINRA Claim contends Goldman Sachs used the 2008 financial crisis to take advantage of Sehat Sutardja and Weili Dai. The FINRA filing asserts that in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs was under great stress – incurring its first quarterly loss in its history ($2.1 billion, 4th quarter 2008) and losing two-thirds of its stock value in less than four months.

According to attorney Joseph Cotchett, “Through a series of extraordinary and deceitful acts geared to save Goldman Sachs at the expense of its clients, the FINRA Claim expressly alleges the firm used customer accounts to leverage its own profits without regard to the consequences to Sehat and Weili. Our clients became the victims of one of the largest acts of corporate greed and avarice in the history of our financial markets.”

As United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring down insider trading rings, recently explained in a statement:

“The charges unsealed today allege a corrupt circle of friends who formed a criminal club whose purpose was profit and whose members regularly bartered lucrative inside information so their respective funds could illegally profit, ” Bharara explained in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“And profit they allegedly did – to the tune of more than $61m on illegal trades of a single stock – much of it coming in a $53 million short trade,” he said. “Here, The Big Short was The Big Illegal Short. We have demonstrated through our prosecutions that insider trading is rampant and has its own social network, a network we intend to dismantle. We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of those who think they are above the law.” Excerpts quoted in The Register.

These insider trading schemes, including the ring allegedly involving Daniel Longueuil, Samir Barai, Jason Pflaum, and Noah Freeman, include obtaining inside information, such as detailed financial earnings. Among the prominent public companies victimized by the insider trading rings are Marvell and NVIDIA Corporation (“NVIDIA”).

As SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro commented recently in connection with curbing conflicts of interest for firms such as Goldman Sachs through implementing the Volcker Rule, “[T]he Volcker Rule… generally prohibits certain banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading or sponsoring or investing in a hedge fund or private equity fund. The statute is intended to curb the proprietary interests of commercial banks and their affiliates in order to protect taxpayers and consumers by prohibiting insured depository institutions from engaging in risky proprietary trading.” Chairman Schapiro went on to state that implementation of the Volcker Rule “would be a step forward in reducing conflicts of interests between the self-interests of banking entities and the interests of their customers. The statute is aimed at constraining banking entities’ proprietary trading, protecting the provision of essential financial services and promoting the stability of the U.S. financial system.”

The Volcker Rule, which has become one of the most controversial parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, seeks to add distance between the world of speculative trading and commercial banking. The proposal bans banks from proprietary trading, or trades that are made solely for their own profit, and limits their investments in hedge funds. It would mostly affect large banks, such as Goldman Sachs. See Thomson Reuters News and Insight.

Further, by re-titling Claimants’ Marvell shares in Goldman’s name alone, Goldman was able to de-leverage and capitalize its own accounts. Goldman needed this liquidity in the midst of the financial crisis to convert from an investment bank to a bank holding company, which it did in September, 2008.

Goldman is not the only firm alleged to be guilty of betraying its clients’ interests, breaching its fiduciary duty of loyalty, and breaking the law. Threatened with bankruptcy, MF Global is alleged to have used client accounts in a last ditch effort to recapitalize the firm. According to Bloomberg News, MF Global CEO and former Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs Jon Corzine “gave ‘direct instructions’ to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in brokerage account with JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM).” The New York Times added, “[i]n its final days, MF Global tapped its customers’ accounts to meet its own financial obligations, people briefed on the matter have said. The act violated a fundamental Wall Street regulation that firms never commingle customer money with company funds.”

A House Financial Services subcommittee is investigating what caused an estimated $1.6 billion shortfall in customer funds at MF Global, which collapsed into bankruptcy on October 31, 2011. The Congressional subcommittee is focusing on instructions to move $200 million from an MF Global Holdings Ltd. account containing customer funds just three days before the collapse of the securities firm. The transfer was allegedly needed to cure a $175 million overdraft in an MF Global bank account.

Just as MF Global purportedly misappropriated client accounts, the FINRA Claim asserts Goldman Sachs misappropriated Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai’s stock. Goldman Sachs has recently been the subject of numerous claims of misuse of client funds and shares in connection with securities lending. As one New York Times article pointed out,

“While few investors understand or care about the mechanics of securities lending, the area has come under increased regulatory scrutiny. The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought several cases in recent years accusing market participants of failing to borrow shares they or their customers had sold short, improperly creating a supply of additional stock to sell.

Along with a handful of traders at smallish firms, Goldman’s securities lending unit has been cited by regulators for lapses. In 2010, the S.E.C. sued Goldman on accusations that it ‘willfully’ had failed to preborrow shares as required for its short-selling clients in January 2009…. The improprieties involved 385 short sales in which the firm had not located shares for its brokerage clients to borrow. Goldman paid $450,000 to settle the case without admitting or denying the accusations.”

Recently, a former Goldman Sachs Executive Director, Greg Smith, resigned from the firm and wrote a scathing Op-Ed article in The New York Times. In his Op-Ed article, Mr. Smith contended the Goldman Sachs culture had become toxic and the firm had placed its own interests ahead of those of its customers.

The FINRA Claim of Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai has become a large concern in the Asian-American community.

In conclusion, the amended FINRA Claim will allege Goldman Sachs secretly took title in only its name to over 20 million of Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai’s Marvell shares, worth over $120 million at the time and over $315 million today. Based on today’s breaking news, Dr. Sehat Sutardja and Ms. Weili Dai will be amending their FINRA Claim to allege Goldman Sachs secretly instructed the stock transfer agent to obtain title to the Marvell shares in Goldman Sachs’ name alone, without their clients’ permission. It is asserted this undisclosed re-titling resulted in Dr. Sutardja and Ms. Dai becoming two of the largest victims of the culture of greed at Goldman Sachs. This use of client shares is similar to the alleged use of client funds by MF Global, currently under Congressional investigation for misusing client funds. The FINRA Claim seeks return of several hundreds of millions of dollars and punitive damages.

Campbell & Company today announced the expansion of the firm’s executive management team with the appointment of Steven Schneider as Chief Administrative Officer effective April 2nd.

Mr. Schneider joins Campbell with over 25 years of experience working as Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer throughout his career, primarily with large asset management firms including Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, New York Life Investment Management, and Deutsche Bank.  Most recently, Mr. Schneider was Chief Financial Officer for Ironwood Global in New York.

Steve Roussin, the firm’s President & CEO commented, “We are excited to welcome Steven to the management team at Campbell.  As we continue to accelerate and grow, Steven brings an additional set of skills that will be a benefit to those endeavors and a complement to our existing team.”  Mr. Schneider will report directly to Mr. Roussin.

Founded in 1972, Campbell & Company is a pioneer in absolute return investment management, specializing in systematic managed futures and equity market-neutral strategies.  Recognized as an innovator in quantitative modeling, Campbell’s research efforts are designed to exploit structural market inefficiencies and have delivered attractive risk-adjusted returns over time.  Campbell and its affiliates manage $3Bn in assets for a broad array of institutional and private clients around the world.

LONDON and NEW YORK, March 19, 2012 — BTIG Limited, the European affiliate of BTIG LLC, a global financial services firm specializing in institutional trading and related brokerage services, has hired Matthew Cyzer, former Partner and Head of European Equity Salestrading at Goldman Sachs in London, to head its equities sales and trading group and spearhead the further expansion of its European business.

Mr. Cyzer will serve as President and Head of European Equities for BTIG Limited. Based in London, Mr. Cyzer will be tasked with managing BTIG’s equities sales and trading business throughout Europe, planning and implementing the strategic direction and expansion of BTIG’s European businesses, including BTIG’s outsource trading, prime-brokerage and agency execution business, hiring professionals, and managing client services.

Mr. Cyzer has an established track record of success in European finance. At Goldman Sachs, which he joined in 2002 and became a Partner in 2004, Mr. Cyzer was Head of European Equity Salestrading and most recently ran Goldman’s European One Delta Execution Services before retiring in 2011. Before his tenure at Goldman, he was Deutsche Bank’s Head of European Equity Salestrading. Mr. Cyzer started his career in European equity sales at NatWest Markets.

“We are thrilled that Matthew will be joining our team and know that his extensive experience in the London and European markets will be invaluable to us as we expand our European and international operations,” said Steven Starker, Co-Founder of BTIG. “We feel that now is the right time to invest further in our growing European franchise by hiring the best talent and the best professionals to drive our growth and serve our clients.

About BTIG
BTIG LLC is a premier institutional brokerage and fund services company. BTIG continues to build its global franchise around a broad and experienced group of professionals who are leaders and experts in their respective fields. Founded in 2002, BTIG, including through its affiliates, employs nearly 400 professionals in five different countries. BTIG serves customers from all over the world and offers services in 11 areas: Equity Trading, Equity Derivatives, Futures Trading, Convertible Securities, Prime Brokerage, Outsource Trading, Fixed Income, Direct Market Access, Capital Markets, Equity Research and Corporate Access.

BTIG has nine U.S. offices: New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Greenwich, Red Bank and Orinda. The firm also has four overseas affiliates: London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

CHICAGO, March 15, 2012—Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced that Roger Ibbotson, Peng Chen, and Kevin Zhu received the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award from the CFA Institute Financial Analysts Journal (FAJ) for the research paper, “The ABCs of Hedge Funds: Alphas, Betas, and Costs,” published in the January/February 2011 issue of the FAJ. This is the ninth Graham and Dodd Award or Graham and Dodd Scroll Award granted for financial writing to employees of Morningstar or its subsidiary Ibbotson Associates.

In the paper, Ibbotson, Chen, and Zhu examined whether or not hedge fund managers, on average, produce returns that justify their fees. They adjusted hedge fund return data for biases and then broke down the returns into alpha (portion of return generated by the manager), beta (portion of return generated by the markets), and cost (portion of return that goes to fees). The authors found that the average hedge fund manager produced significantly positive alpha during the time period studied and that the average hedge fund manager added value in both bear and bull markets. The complete paper can be found on the CFA website.

“Despite the growing mainstream use of hedge funds, they’re largely unregulated, which makes accurate measurement of performance difficult. They are also generally more expensive than traditional investments, so it begs the question of whether the performance justifies the cost,” said Joe Mansueto, chairman and chief executive officer of Morningstar, Inc. “This work sheds light from a historical performance perspective on an opaque area of the market, and allows investors to make more educated decisions. We are thrilled that Roger, Peng, and Kevin have been recognized with this most prestigious honor for their contributions to the field.”

Roger Ibbotson, Ph.D., is founder of Ibbotson Associates, professor of finance at Yale School of Management, and partner at Zebra Capital Management. Morningstar acquired Ibbotson Associates in 2006 and Roger Ibbotson serves as a management advisor to Morningstar. Peng Chen, Ph.D., CFA, is president of Morningstar’s global Investment Management division. Kevin Zhu, Ph.D., previously worked for Morningstar as a senior research consultant.

Awarded by the FAJ’s Advisory Council and Editorial Board, the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award is given in recognition of excellence in research and financial writing. The FAJ is published six times a year by CFA Institute, the worldwide association of more than 105,000 securities analysts, portfolio managers, strategists, consultants, and other investment specialists. The Journal advances the knowledge and understanding of the practice of investment management through the publication of high-quality, practitioner-relevant research. The Graham and Dodd Awards were established in 1960 to recognize excellence in financial writing and to honor Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd for their enduring contributions to the field of financial analysis.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on approximately 375,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 8 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment advisor subsidiaries and has more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2011. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Custom House Fund Services today announced that it has chosen Nirvana Solutions to provide risk reporting and risk analysis solutions to its hedge fund clients. Compliance, increased investor demand for risk measurement, transparency and daily valuation are driving the need for fund administrators to provide affordable, scalable and innovative reporting, risk and technology solutions to their hedge fund clients.

“We invested considerable time evaluating vendors and Nirvana came out on top. Nirvana provides the most value and breadth of solutions for our growing business. Nirvana’s approach to engage in a comprehensive test environment before we invested provided us the flexibility and reliability we expect in a partner. Risk and enhanced P&L reporting lead the list of new functionality our clients demand from Custom House. This increased demand is coming particularly from hedge fund investors. With Nirvana’s technology, we can give our clients what they need to keep their investors satisfied, and assist them in raising assets by attracting new investors for their hedge funds”, said Chris Rakers, Chief Information Officer at Custom House.

“We are delighted to offer our suite of risk and reporting solutions to Custom House Fund Services. Custom House invested the time to test our offerings in depth to ensure they were indeed addressing their clients’ requirements for risk reporting,” Shams Karim CEO Nirvana Solutions said. Shams added, “We look forward to extending Nirvana Risk Reporting, Nirvana Enterprise and our newest product, Nirvana Touch to Custom House’s clients.”

Beginning in Q1 2012, Custom House will offer their clients a new suite of services that includes daily risk reporting and analytics in real-time or on T+1. Investor Focus Reports also make up part of Custom House’s new service offering and will enable their hedge fund client’s to provide a greater level of transparency that today’s investors are demanding.

As a key component of their partnership, Nirvana and Custom House have agreed on a fixed pricing model that does not require their client’s to pay a large upfront investment. “The model of paying upfront license fees for technology or risk management and hoping for the best are slowly eroding. In today’s environment, hedge funds must make strategic investments in technology based on results, not on sales promises. With our partnership, Nirvana and Custom House can significantly reduce the risk of making strategic technology mistakes,” said Steve Lewczyk, Co-Founder of Nirvana Solutions.

A.W. Jones Performance Update - An 11% compound return since inception as a fund of funds in 1984 puts A.W. Jones Company (the “Fund”) among the top performing global long/short equity fund of funds. Since 2002, the Fund has produced over 500 bps of annualized alpha versus the S&P 500 and MSCI World Indices. It has also outperformed in absolute terms, while having volatility of about half of the major market indices and an average net exposure of approximately 50%.

A.W. Jones uses no leverage at the fund of funds level and invests in high-quality managers who follow the model of hedged long/short equity investing pioneered by the firm’s founder, Alfred Winslow Jones, in 1949.

• A.W. Jones was founded in 1949 as the world’s first hedge fund, and was converted into one of the earliest fund of funds in 1984.

• The investment committee of the fund is composed of Robert L. Burch IV, Robert L. Burch III, and Reid R. Miles, who collectively have over 50 years of experience in the alternative investment industry. Miles Howland & Co. LLC is a New York based investment management firm focused on alternative assets, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate.

• Miles Howland and Co. LLC and A.W. Jones Company have entered into a joint venture agreement whereby A.W. Jones Fund will be offered on the Miles Howland & Co. platform and Miles Howland & Co. serves on the A.W. Jones Investment Committee.

• The firm works with domestic and international clients in creating differentiated alternative asset investment solutions. The Miles Howland & Co. client base includes substantial private and institutional investors.