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.
Caribbean Net News – The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s business told a judge that two Cayman Islands and Bermuda hedge-fund firms accused of profiting from the fraud are ignoring his lawsuits seeking a total of $230.7 million in damages.
Trustee Irving Picard on Wednesday asked the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to file default notices against the Cayman Islands-based Primeo Fund and Bermuda-based Alpha Prime Fund Ltd., court papers show. Two offshore firms sued earlier for a total of $1.2 billion also have ignored Picard’s lawsuits.
Caribbean Net News – The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s business told a judge he is in settlement talks with three Fairfield Greenwich Group hedge funds accused of taking $3.54 billion in fake profit from the conman’s fraud.
Trustee Irving Picard said he’s in similar talks with two funds run by Bermuda-based Kingate Management Ltd., accused of withdrawing $255 million in fake profit from Madoff’s investment advisory business before his Dec. 11 arrest.
Insurance Journal – Demand for disaster derivatives is surging as insurers seek alternatives to scarce reinsurance and expensive catastrophe bonds, with the forthcoming North Atlantic hurricane season likely to give a further boost.
Prices are at record levels for Industry Loss Warranties (ILWs) and derivatives such as catastrophe futures, used by insurers to cover their potential losses from natural disasters.
"People are trying to purchase as much cover as they can, be they insurance companies in Florida or reinsurers in Bermuda, and obviously pricing has been driven up considerably," said Stephen Breen, Executive Vice President at Tradition Re, which brokers traditional reinsurance and catastrophe derivatives.
Dallas Morning News – An investor in a Perot family hedge fund has sued the Perot Family Trust and several related parties, saying they grossly mismanaged the fund, which went bust in November after starting the year with $2.5 billion in net assets.
Southern Avenue Partners LP said the fund – Bermuda-chartered Parkcentral Global Hub Ltd. – collapsed despite reassurances to investors that its trading strategies would protect it from deep losses. The hedge fund didn’t hedge, the complaint alleges.
"As a result of defendants’ breach of fiduciary duty, the Global Fund imploded," said the lawsuit, referring to Parkcentral Global Hub. "The Global Fund’s net asset value went from over $2.5 billion to less than zero.
