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.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – BlackRock, Inc. confirmed that negotiations are ongoing with U.K.’s third-largest bank, Barclays Bank plc, about the potential purchase of Barclays Global Investors (BGI), including the iShares business.
“The discussions are not yet concluded and there are a number of significant open issues which could affect the nature and terms of any transaction,” Barclays said in a statement.
BlackRock’s BGI buyout will break its own record in a hedge fund transaction, when in 2006 BlackRock took over Merrill Lynch’s asset management business for $8.5 billion. The unconfirmed selling price is $12 billion to $13 billion. Other contenders for Barclays Global Investors include the Bank of New York Mellon and some Kuwaiti sovereign wealth funds, among others.
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Financial Post – Barclays PLC, the U.K.’s third-largest bank, is in talks with BlackRock Inc. and other bidders to sell its asset management division for more than US$10-billion.
BlackRock, the world’s biggest publicly traded asset manager, is the leading contender to buy Barclays Global Investors, people familiar with the situation said June 6. London-based Barclays has also held talks about selling BGI to Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the people added. The bank is seeking more than US$12-billion for the unit, and may keep a 20% stake in the merged company, one of the people said.
Retaining a stake "is an intelligent way to structure the deal," said Danny Clarke, a Liverpool-based analyst at Capital Group PLC, who has a "hold" rating on Barclays. "It strikes a balance between short and long-term goals, boosting capital and retaining some earnings."
The battered insurance giant AIG returns to Capitol Hill Wednesday facing another frosty reception in Congress – where three AIG trustees appointed by the U.S. government will make their public debut amid growing skepticism over their role at the company.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) is questioning whether the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – which installed the handpicked trustees in January – is doing enough to protect taxpayers footing the bill for the $182.5 billion bailout.
And POLITICO has learned that one of those trustees has another role – as chairwoman of a Bermuda-based firm that administers hedge funds based in the Cayman Islands and other global tax havens.
Saudi Gazette – By end of 2013, Middle East investors will account for about $194 billion in hedge fund assets, or about 7.5 percent of total global hedge fund assets, a new global study of institutional investors, investment consultants and hedge funds released on Monday by the Bank of New York Mellon and Casey, Quirk & Associates, said.
This is an almost 30 percent increase on 2007, when the Middle East accounted for about $109 billion, or a 5.8 percent share.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Coinciding with the launch of new services aimed at increasing hedge fund transparency, independent alternative fund manager Butterfield Fulcrum appointed T. Andrew Smith as the firm’s global head of business development and marketing. He will be based in the company’s New York office, and will oversee Butterfield Fulcrum’s teams in Europe, Asia and North America.
With nearly 20 years of experience in institutional sales, business development, securities and global fund services, Smith’s appointment comes as investors demand operational transparencies from hedge funds.
Smith most recently served as a managing director and head of North America in global transaction services at Citi overseeing a $1.0 billion securities and fund services region. Before that he served as senior vice president of plan sponsor services at The Bank of New York and spent ten years at the State Street Corporation.
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West Palm Beach – (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund assets will bottom out at roughly $1 trillion in 2009, after which capital appreciation and $800 billion in net inflows over the next four years will push global levels to $2.6 trillion by 2013, according to a new study of institutional investors, investment consultants and hedge funds released today by The Bank of New York Mellon BK and Casey, Quirk & Associates.
The study, entitled "The Hedge Fund of Tomorrow: Building an Enduring Firm," found that institutions remain firmly committed to hedge fund investing. Institutional investors comprised less than 20% of hedge fund redemptions in 2008-2009, and North American pension plans will represent the single largest source of new capital between 2010 and 2013, followed by British and Northern European institutions. Global high net worth investors could account for as much as 60% of new net flows between 2010 and 2013, although their return to hedge fund strategies will rely on capital market conditions and hedge fund performance.
Funds of hedge funds will solidify their role as the primary hedge fund distribution channel, capturing almost 60% of net inflows between 2010 and 2013 by continuing to offer services most investors will find difficult to replicate on their own, such as manager-sourcing and ongoing due diligence.
According to the report, the hedge fund industry is facing a "transformational crisis" and must address key shortcomings in its business and operating models. As a result, hedge funds will rely more on third parties for a growing range of administrative support. Fund administrators will play a greater role in hedge funds’ operations, which will require stronger integration of hedge fund servicing activity with traditional custody and cash platforms.
"The events of 2008 have changed the old dynamic. Investor and regulatory demands for new levels of transparency mean the legacy operating model no longer works," said Brian Ruane, executive vice president of Alternative Investment Services at The Bank of New York Mellon. "Hedge funds increasingly will turn to independent third parties for middle- and back-office functions such as portfolio accounting and reconciliation, custody of non-collateral assets, pricing and valuation, cash management, and counter-party risk-mitigation. Allowing third parties to play a bigger role in their business will be a sign the hedge fund industry is maturing."
"Enduring hedge fund management firms will more closely align their business models with investor needs for transparency and liquidity. This means new fee models and longer-term incentive structures," said Kevin Quirk, a partner with Casey Quirk. "By striking better-designed balances, they will come to define the central value proposition of active asset management."
While the single-strategy boutique remains a viable model, better-designed and more durable investment management businesses will capture a majority of new hedge fund assets. Four models likely to thrive in the coming years include:
Single-Strategy Boutique: ‘Classic’ hedge fund, dominated by a typical direct investment capability using hedge fund techniques
Multi-Capability Platform: Common brand, distribution and business infrastructure support multiple distinct alternative investment capabilities
Merchant Bank Alternative Manager: Diversified financial intermediation business with core capabilities in investment management
Converged Traditional-Alternative Manager: Investment firm that has successfully integrated alternative and traditional long-only capabilities
Results from this year’s study, the third in an ongoing series jointly created by the Bank of New York Mellon and Casey Quirk, relied on interviews with more than 150 institutional investors, investment consultants, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and industry experts around the world.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Pershing LLC has expanded their business consulting services by including a hedge fund start-up simulator tool and a new guidebook to assist hedge fund managers with the launch of new funds. Pershing is a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation BK.
Pershing Prime Services’ Hedge Fund Start-Up Simulator was developed in collaboration with Moss Adams LLP. It provides hedge fund managers with detailed information about the infrastructure and financial workings of a hedge fund, especially during its first 18 months of operation, including the launch.
Pershing Prime Services’ new guidebook entitled, A Guide to Establishing a Hedge Fund, was created in conjunction with The Bank of New York Mellon and offers an introduction to a number of critical criteria, as well as a framework for making informed business decisions.
Pershing and The Bank of New York Mellon leveraged a wide network of industry specialists to develop the guidebook, including Moss Adams, Eze Castle Integration, Inc., Stark & Stark Attorneys At Law and Sasserath & Zoraian LLP, as well as its in-house experts.
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Times Online – The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which oversees $38 billion, voted to fire hedge-fund firm Austin Capital Management after losing $12 million with alleged Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff.
The state pension board also decided at a meeting in Boston today to dismiss Ivy Asset Management, the hedge-fund unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., because several senior managers have left the firm. About $430 million in pension assets were invested with Ivy and $130 million with Austin, the board said.
Austin invested pension assets with Tremont Partners, the hedge-fund unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Tremont placed money through its Rye Select Broad Market Prime Fund LP with Madoff, the New York financier accused of fraud in a scheme that may have cost clients $50 billion.
Reuters – Millionaires who long put money with hedge funds are now skittish about adding fresh cash after these loosely regulated portfolios posted record losses last year, a top industry executive said on Thursday.
"We have probably seen the worst of the (hedge fund industry redemptions), but I think it will be a slow go to build up that asset base again," Don Heberle, executive director at Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s Wealth Management unit where he oversees the Family Office and Charitable Gift Services groups, said in an interview.
The potential of hedge funds to deliver strong returns in all markets because they can sell stocks short and use borrowed money has appealed to wealthy investors for years. With the help of people like Heberle’s clients — families that are worth more than $100 million — hedge fund industry assets doubled to $2 trillion between 2005 and 2008.
