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.
The Hindu Business Line – Hedge funds investing in India are now among the top performers globally, after languishing at the bottom of the charts, hit by poor returns and outflows in 2008. Inflows into India specific hedge funds, however, continue to be muted.
The 37-per-cent gain in Eurekahedge India index, disseminated by Eurekahedge (a leading data provider on alternative investments), makes it the top gainer among regional hedge fund indices until July 2009.
Eastern Europe and Russian region and Greater China vie for the second position with 33 per cent return. Hedge fund returns in developed markets such as Europe and North America are relatively muted between 12 and 14 per cent, dragging the global returns down to 12 per cent.
Forbes – 2008 was a bad year for hedge funds that invested in Eastern Europe and Russia, forcing many to abandon the region. A month into the new year, they are still steering clear of the market and waiting for more attractive cheap buys to emerge.
"Most funds are waiting to see what happens, looking for distressed asset opportunities toward the end of the year," said the director of a London-based hedge fund, which has been investing in the region. "Potentially there are quite a few funds that could reorientate toward the region but mostly people are managing redemptions and waiting to see what happens," he told Forbes. According to the fund manager, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan’s industrial and resource sectors were likely to be among the first areas re-entered.
Boston Globe – The leaders of Germany, Britain, France, and Italy yesterday said that the resources of the International Monetary Fund should be doubled, to $500 billion, to help head off new problems in countries already hit hard by the global economic and financial crisis.
The officials also said, in a statement clearly aimed at hedge funds and other big private pools of capital, that "all financing markets and participants" need to fall under regulation in the future. And they vowed to make a tough push against tax havens.
With one eye on a crisis that is rapidly spreading to Eastern Europe and even countries that use the euro, the leaders highlighted the crisis-prevention role of the IMF, an institution whose relevance to the current global economy seemed in doubt only a few years ago.
Reuters UK – Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Thursday for greater regulation of hedge funds.
Speaking in Rome after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ahead of April’s G20 summit, Brown also said leaders would focus their attention on how to tackle the financial crisis in Eastern Europe.
"Together we will support oversight of under-regulated sectors and I also support proper disclosure and transparency of hedge funds," he said. "The G20 is determined to address the financial crisis in Eastern Europe."
