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 – Not only are Hedge funds losing clients and money, they are losing clout, too, as large investors turn the table on them and demand better terms.
Stung by investment losses and vexed by so-called gates that limit redemptions, some of the largest pension funds and other large investors are demanding that fund managers trim fees, provide more information and increase access to cash.
While media-shy TCI founder Chris Hohn and others will face tough questions from the Treasury Select Committee on financial stability, short-selling and other issues, it nevertheless seems that the pro-legislation lobby’s position may be weaker than it has been in recent years.
For one thing, many hedge funds simply do not have the financial clout — and therefore carry the associated risks seen by some politicians — that they once did.
Paul Volcker, one of the men President-elect Barack Obama is counting on to save the U.S. economy, last night helped the Museum of American Finance raise about $470,000 at a gala dinner.
The former Federal Reserve chairman’s Rolodex and clout helped the museum come within $30,000 of the money raised at its inaugural gala before the crisis started last year.
Jeanne Driscoll, the museum’s development director, smiled as patrons arrived, including Merrill Lynch & Co. Vice Chairman William McDonough and Blackstone Group L.P. co-founder Pete Peterson. She said a Volcker-less affair and the absence of many of his rich and powerful friends would have raised much less in the current economy, which he is charged with fixing as head of Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Chicago Tribune – The Citadel Investment Group will shutter its Tokyo offices and cut 37 jobs from its Asian operations.
The Chicago-based hedge fund will still have a presence in Hong Kong, where 25 positions will be cut, the company said Monday. The investment firm founded by billionaire Ken Griffin in 1990 will maintain 25 to 30 staffers in Hong Kong. A regional group that invested in companies undergoing mergers, asset sales or lawsuits will be cut.
Citadel’s decision comes after its two primary funds reported losses of 47 percent through November. The firm manages $16 billion in assets.
GENEVA (Reuters) – Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) aims to reinforce its presence in the hedge funds segment as rivals feel the pressure from the prolonged financial crisis, a senior bank official said on Tuesday.
"Only the best will survive and will be able to seize the space left vacant by others," said Jan Erik Frogg, head of alternative investments at UBP, told Reuters.
"There will be some unique opportunities."
The hedge fund market is going to contract by 30 percent to 35 percent as the financial crisis prompts investors to flee risky assets, UBP predicts.
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.
