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 – Ronnie Wu, chief investment officer of the $400 million hedge fund of funds house Penjing Asset Management Ltd., will start a pool of money dedicated to providing early investments to new hedge funds next month.
It aims to make five to six investments with the flagship Penjing Asia Fund by year-end, he said in an interview yesterday. The new pool will begin with about $25 million from Wu’s family and friends and then raise capital from investors after the initial money has been deployed.
Chicago Tribune – Federal prosecutors have unsealed a wide-ranging indictment against Philip J. Baker, accusing the head of Chicago-based hedge fund Lake Shore Asset Management Ltd. of defrauding hundreds of investors out of roughly $312 million.
U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald announced the 27-count indictment Tuesday and said it "was unsealed to facilitate international efforts to apprehend Baker."
Baker is a 44-year-old Canadian citizen last spotted living in Hamburg, Germany, whose location is unknown, prosecutors said. The charges include fraud, obstruction of justice and criminal contempt.
Bloomberg – Commoditrade Inc. plans to introduce an energy hedge fund in the fourth quarter, complementing a fund that invests in industrial metals.
The new fund will use the relative-value strategy followed by the metals fund, Chief Executive Officer David Phipps said yesterday in a phone interview. He declined to comment on the performance of the metals fund, the AMCO Commodity Fund, which Georgetown, Grand Cayman-based Commoditrade bought in February.
Commoditrade and competitors are opening energy funds as oil futures listed in New York rebound from the worst slump ever. Galena Asset Management Ltd. started an energy hedge fund this month that it said may expand to more than $1 billion. Andrew Serotta, who worked for Vitol Group, aims to raise $100 million for an oil hedge fund called Logista Capital.
Bloomberg – BlueGold Capital Management LLP and Galena Asset Management Ltd. extended their winning streak in the first four months, outpacing competing hedge funds and commodities.
Pierre Andurand’s $1.1 billion BlueGold energy fund rose 35 percent through April, two people with direct knowledge of the returns said, declining to be named because the data are confidential. Galena’s $430 million metals fund added 8.6 percent, according to David Mimra, London-based head of sales and marketing.
Reuters India – SkyBridge Capital, a firm that provides money for early-stage hedge funds, on Friday said it invested $50 million (33 million pounds) in WyeTree Asset Management Ltd, a London-based fund focused on distressed mortgage securities.
WyeTree seeks out distressed residential mortgage assets that may be oversold for technical reasons, SkyBridge said. WyeTree is currently investing in U.S. subprime mortgages, but in time will also seek assets in other markets.
