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.
Guardian.co.uk – The secretive hedge fund manager and philanthropist Chris Hohn last year donated almost half a billion pounds to the children’s charity run by his wife, it emerged yesterday.
The £486m gift follows hefty profits at Hohn’s hedge fund TCI in 2007, and beat the previous year’s donation of £276m. The financier has now donated more than £1bn in total, more than the gross domestic product of countries including Greenland and Antigua.
The funds will be given to the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the charity that Hohn co-founded with his wife Jamie to help children in poor and developing countries, mostly in Africa, Asia and Central America.
LONDON (AP) – Britain’s financial services watchdog proposed sweeping changes to global banking regulations on Wednesday, including a crackdown on the "shadow banking" activities of institutions like hedge funds.
The government-commissioned banking services report recommends new rules on a wide range of issues from increased requirements on banks on holding capital to stricter controls on bankers’ bonuses to discourage excessive risk taking.
Financial Services Authority chairman Adair Turner said that the market economy remained the best means of delivering global prosperity, but major changes in regulation and supervision were required to ensure that it is focused on the needs of businesses and households rather than taking risks for quick return.
The report embraces actions necessary in Britain and also discusses those that would require international cooperation. Britain will host an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 rich and developing countries that will discuss ways to address the world financial crisis, including more regulation
Reuters – China, setting out its stall for the next global financial summit, wants the International Monetary Fund to get tougher with developed countries that let their economies run off the rails.
In a position paper prepared for the April 2 meeting in London of the Group of 20, China calls for more power for developing countries in the IMF and World Bank and issues a warning against investment protection.
On financial regulation, the memo says accounting standards and credit ratings should be adjusted to contain the "pro-cyclical" bias of financial institutions to ramp up lending and investment when times are good, leading to excessive risks.
Reuters Shanghai – The investment banking arm of China Construction Bank plans to launch a 5 billion yuan ($731.3 million) fund to focus on investments in the country’s rapidly growing heathcare sector, state media reported on Tuesday.
Hong Kong-based CCB International is leading the fundraising but has not yet reached the initial target of 5 billion yuan, the online edition of the official Xinhua News Agency (www.xinhuanet.com) said.
Once launched, the fund would focus on investments in healthcare-related sectors including pharmacy, medical equipment manufacturing, medical institutions and services, Xinhua quoted CCB International’s chief executive, Hu Zhanghong, as saying.
Reuters- Hedge feeder fund BH Global said on Friday it has raised $1 billion (500 million pounds) from a placing with investors, double its initial target of $500 million, which will make it one of the UK’s biggest listed funds.
The fundraising highlights the demand that exists for certain hedge strategies, despite the poor returns from many funds in the industry this year, and trumps that by fund of hedge funds Dexion Absolute which in December raised an above-target $950 million.
"We are pleasantly surprised by the extent of the response," BH Global chairman Lord Turnbull told Reuters.
