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.
Reuters – LaSalle Investment Management has raised a $3 billion (1.64 billion pounds) "opportunity" fund for Asian property, saying it is interested in investing in Japan, China and South Korea.
The fund management unit of property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle said in a statement on Friday that the fund would use borrowing to boost its spending power to as much as $12 billion.
The company told Reuters in June that it expects assets under management in Asia to double in the next three years from about $11 billion now.
"Asia remains a key strategic priority for our business and we have a very active plan to grow our operations in the region," LaSalle’s managing director Philip Ling said in the statement.
CityWire – Premier Asset Management has hired former Thames River hedge fund specialist Chris Wright to take control of the Premier Dividend Fund from Paul Branigan.
Branigan, who also manages an absolute return growth mandate and is chief investment officer of Premier, is handing over to Wright as he wishes to concentrate on his other duties at the group.
Wright, who managed a number of hedge funds for Thames River, joins Premier on 1 September.
Wright is expected to restructure the Dividend Fund when he arrives, which could see it employ a similar strategy to the one used by the Schroder Income Maximiser Acc fund.
Managing director of sales and marketing, Simon Weldon, said: ‘Chris brings a lot of pan European equity experience with him and has been on both sides of the buy-sell fence so we are confident he will make an excellent addition to the team.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) – The Directors of Cayman based Camelot Global Investments announced a management buy-out of their hedge fund, in cooperation with Merlin Global Enterprise.
Camelot will join Arkanar Financial Holdings, with the head office being relocated to Tallinn, Estonia. A branch will remain in Caymans.
The key staff members will stay, "It is important that we were able to maintain all trading and administrative staff," the board announced, "We have only lost the former majority shareholders who decided to retire and leave the industry."
Bob Torkelund has joined as Managing Director and co-shareholder, he will head the entire promotion, distribution and the servicing of funds. Torkelund will also lead the launches of new products according to market demand.
"I am really delighted to be able to be part of this young, dynamic team especially because we have been working together for a while on a consulting basis and have got to know each other very well and know where to support each other. The combination of my experience and contact network makes it a thrilling opportunity for both parties”, Torkelund said.
Apart from Torkelund, head trader Thomas Feldt and Jevgeni Geller are still shareholders and directors in the company. Having contributed largely to the past success of Camelot, they and are enthusiastic about the challenge. Geller will concentrate on business development, overseeing all operations to ensure continuity in performance and service. Feldt will continue to head the trading desk and will be responsible for investment strategy.
The investment strategy will reflect Camelot’s previous success. Feldt analyses systematic trading and global macro strategy, making adjustments in conjunction with market change in order to ensure constant development in the returns.
On September 15th 2008 Arkanar Financial will be launching their first Cayman licensed fund in cooperation with Capita Financial, Gibraltar.
One of the significant differences with non-regulated funds is that they can offer investments from as little as $10 000 and subsequent deals from $1000.
Arkanar Financial Holdings also utilises electronic clearing facilities ( Euroclear /Clearstream), accepting deals on a -payment against delivery- basis which opens basically for a large number of Europeans banks to be able to invest on behalf of their clients, a big step for the more general investment population to be able to test hedge funds without having to risk a large part of their portfolio on one position.
The initial offering period will be running till September 30th.
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MarketWatch – James Pallotta, vice chairman and managing director of U.S. public equities at Tudor Investment Corp., is leaving the giant hedge fund firm and plans to launch the Raptor Global Funds unit he runs as a separate business, according to a letter Tudor sent to investors this week.
Pallotta will spin off Raptor at the end of 2008 and set up a new, independent firm that will initially focus on public equity investments, Tudor explained. Over time, Raptor will branch out into private investments too, the firm added in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by MarketWatch.
"Tudor will support Jim in the creation of his new firm and anticipates that it will invest capital in new funds Jim launches," Paul Tudor Jones II, chairman of Tudor, wrote in the letter. "We expect there will be many opportunities for collaboration on investments in future years."
A spokesman for Tudor said the firm declined to comment.
Pallotta will continue to manage the Raptor Global and Altar Rock Funds as well as a portion of Tudor’s main BVI Global Fund. On Jan. 1, 2009, the management of the Raptor Global Funds will transition to the new firm.
Reuters HK- SAIL Advisors Ltd, one of Asia’s largest homegrown fund of hedge fund managers, said on Wednesday it hired former Goldman Sachs Group Inc managing director Vincent Duhamel as its new chief executive.
Hong Kong-based Duhamel will replace Eliza Lau, who previously served as both chief executive and chief investment officer. SAIL said Lau would remain as CIO and continue to oversee its portfolios. The Hong Kong-based firm had about $2.5 billion in assets under management as of the end of June.
Duhamel, who will start as CEO on September 17, was with Goldman in Asia from 2005 until earlier this year.
The Canadian executive initially ran its asset management business in the region, before the role was taken over by Oliver Bolitho. He moved on to help lead the unit’s sovereign wealth fund and central bank strategy.
Investors Chronicle- In Homer’s Iliad, Troy was razed to the ground by Greek warriors, but Troy Asset Management aims to put up a much better defence for its investors. The boutique fund manager takes its name not from the ancient city but from Lord Weinstock’s British thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1979 Epsom Derby.
As chief executive of Troy Asset Management, Sebastian Lyon’s main concern is not to lose investors’ money. He used to work for GEC as one of the team running its pension fund but in 2000 was asked by GEC managing director Lord Weinstock to set up an independent management company to look after £36m of the family fortune, with a brief to look after it conservatively.
Troy’s three funds are open to investors who have £10,000 (or £7,200 in an individual savings account) to invest, and between them they have assets of £258m.
"It’s not an easy time to be a fund manager," admits Mr Lyon, who manages the conservative Trojan Fund and co-manages the more aggressive Trojan Capital Fund. "We will probably continue to be in a bear market for the next year or so."
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – CSX looks to be cutting some slack to the two rebel hedge funds that have been on a quest to restructure their board of directors.
The railroad company said that it will give two seats to members of the slate first proposed by TGI and 3G Capital Partners and elected during the proxy battle last month.
The seats will go to 3G Managing Director Alexandre Behing and Gilbert Lamphere, former head of Canadian National Railway Co.
However, the hedge funds are claiming they won another two seats on the board. CSX fails to recognize this victory, claiming the election was too close to call.
CSX is planning on reviewing the voting process as early as next week for both TCI head Christopher Hohn and Managing Director of the London Underground Timothy O’Toole. However, the process could take several months.
“We believe the certification process will confirm that shareholders have elected four of our nominees to the CSX board. This latest tactic should be seen for what it is—a cynical attempt to thwart the expressed will of CSX shareholders,” stated the hedge funds.
The much anticipated annual shareholder’s meeting was held at the company’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida on June 25th where the board of directors was set to be nominated. Reporters were disappointed when CSX head Michael Ward abruptly ended the meeting and told the public that results were not readily available.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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Bizjournals.com- The Florida State Board of Administration is negotiating with hedge fund manager Ashbel C. Williams Jr. for the position of executive director and chief investment officer.
Williams is a former executive director of the Florida SBA, a former assistant controller for the state, and currently is managing director of New York area hedge fund manager Fir Tree Partners.
At their July 2 meeting, trustees instructed Robert Milligan, interim executive director of the SBA, to negotiate contract terms with Williams, said Dennis MacKee, the board’s communication director. Milligan is expected to bring a proposed contract for approval back to the board.
Bloomberg- Asia’s expanding hedge fund industry will probably create tens of thousands of jobs in the next five years, even as investment bank recruitment dries up after the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapse, said Sheridan Mather, a managing director of recruitment firm Pinnacle International Ltd.
“We’re seeing some streamlining at the moment. We’re seeing some of the not so well-performing funds closing down,” London- based Mather said in an interview with Bloomberg TV today. “But we’re seeing massive growth of the established guys.”
The world’s biggest banks and securities firms cut 83,000 jobs in the 10 months to May as U.S. subprime mortgage delinquencies seized up the global credit market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Norwalk Advocate- A California firm that provides financial assistance to companies has chosen Westport to locate its first East Coast operation.
Seeking to expand its operations to lucrative Greater New York and Fairfield County, San Francisco-based Business Capital, a provider of commercial turnaround services, has opened an office at 191 Post Road West in Westport.
The goal is to build a stronger East Coast presence, as banks tighten lending standards and firms turn to nontraditional financing, said Chuck Doyle, managing director of the firm.
Reuters India- CQS has hired former Barclays Capital managing director David Kilgore as its head of trading in Hong Kong, part of a broader push by the $9.6 billion (4.9 billion pound) UK hedge fund manager to expand its presence in high-growth Asia.
CQS, a specialist in convertible bond arbitrage, is looking at further expanding its 20-person Hong Kong office and the launch of additional Asia-focused hedge funds is possible, CQS director Brian Pohli said on Tuesday.
"There are a number of different businesses we can bolt on here. But it depends on the skill set of the folks available and the complementary nature of the fit into our existing platform," he told Reuters in an interview at the firm’s Hong Kong office.
West Palm Beach (Hedgeco.net)- The Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index(GGHFI)reported May returns of +2.01% while the Greenwich Composite Investable Index returned +1.66%. The May Index currently includes 1345 constituent funds.
By comparison, the S&P 500 showed gains of +1.29%, while MSCI World Equity and FTSE 100 indices posted returns of +1.11% and -0.56%.
"Across the board, hedge funds performed well in May. But the real story is told when comparing year-to-date performance," notes Margaret Gilbert, Managing Director. "Hedge funds are positive for the year compared to the major equity indices which still remain negative."
For the second month in a row, Long/Short Equity managers were the best performing strategy group, posting a gain of +2.35%. Directional Trading managers, the best performing strategy group so far this year, exhibited another strong month, returning +2.00%.
Specialty Strategy managers were the second-best performing strategy group, returning +2.10% on average. The Market Neutral Group averaged +1.39% on the month as Event Driven managers continued to find opportunities in uncertain markets.
