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.
LiveMint (WSJ) – After the global financial meltdown of the last year, hedge funds have been under considerable stress globally. The operations of all such funds have been viewed as being non-transparent, not subject to regulatory oversight, and high-risk, high-return operations that are run away from the limelight of financial markets.
The very nature of their operations has made them costly, in the sense that payments of upfront 2% fees and 20% of profits are the norm rather than exception. There have also been several scandals connected with hedge funds in the last year, most notably the Bernie Madoff one, which has reduced investor confidence in these funds and their operations.
Reuters – A minister of EU president Sweden said on Friday progress was being made on the contentious issue of European hedge fund regulation and that he was optimistic a deal might be reached in the coming months.
“My view is that we are making progress,” Swedish Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said in a Reuters interview.
“I’m an optimist by nature though I’ve also learned that you need to be realistic. But I think there is scope for reaching an agreement during the Swedish EU presidency, though I can’t be sure.”
Forbes – Hedge fund managers Lloyd Khaner, Stephen Roseman and Ken Shubin Stein discuss changes in the industry post-Bernie Madoff.
The next video will include a discussion between three hedge fund managers and Intelligent Investing assistant editor David Serchuk. In the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal, hedge funds remain a charged topic among investors. Often considered secretive investments for the super wealthy, there is no doubt hedge funds wield enormous influence on our financial markets. Currently there are some $1.8 trillion in assets under management at hedge funds, as more and more investors scramble back in. But why should anyone invest in them? What value do they offer?
Reuters – An increasing number of sovereign wealth funds are working in concert to make joint strategic investments in order to reduce risks and maximize returns, which could provide a stabilizing force in financial markets.
State-owned funds from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait are among those which have recently signed agreements to form investment partnerships with each other.
These partnerships will enable state-owned funds to optimize local knowledge, leverage capital, spread investment risks and maximize returns.
Reuters – An increasing number of sovereign wealth funds are working in concert to make joint strategic investments in order to reduce risks and maximize returns, which could provide a stabilizing force in financial markets.
State-owned funds from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait are among those which have recently signed agreements to form investment partnerships with each other.
These partnerships will enable state-owned funds to optimize local knowledge, leverage capital, spread investment risks and maximize returns.
Reuters – Fortress Investment Group LLC, one of the few publicly traded U.S. hedge fund groups, reported a narrower quarterly loss on surprisingly strong revenue Wednesday, and forecast improved demand for its portfolios in coming quarters.
Fortress executives said several funds delivered respectable returns in the first half the year, and they expect demand to pick up as financial markets recover.
Earthtimes – Julius Baer, one of Switzerland’s largest wealth managers, reported Monday a net profit of 324 million Swiss francs (303 million dollars) in the first half of the year, down 37 per cent compared to the same period in 2008.
The private bank said it had 299 billion Swiss francs of assets under management at the end of June, 25 per cent less, year-on-year. Compared however, to the end of last year, when the financial markets were in turmoil, the bank said its position had improved and was experiencing inflows of new capital.
The bank dropped 2 per cent of its workforce, which now stands at 4,255 staff, and personnel expenses fell by 13 per cent to 587 million francs, reflecting a lowering of performance-related bonuses.
Javno – Calpers lost nearly $60 billion in the financial markets last year, which means it has a serious long-term shortfall. Joseph A. Dear, the fund’s new invesment head, thinks the cure is in hedge funds and beaten-down private equity.
Barron – President Obama took credit Wednesday for the recovery in the financial markets while at the same time decrying Wall Street’s profits and the big bonuses that will be paid out as a result.
In his prime-time news conference, Obama said that if shaming those on Wall Street who take home multi-billion-dollar bonuses doesn’t work, he vowed to make sure shareholders of those companies were made aware of the compensation being doled out.
In the absence of "remorse" of Wall Streeters for raking in big paychecks once again, the president said financial regulatory reform would be necessary to prevent banks from taking risks that he said caused the financial crisis necessitating government bailouts.
Bloomberg – The two main regulators of U.S. financial markets should merge, the chief executive of America’s largest options exchange says in remarks to be delivered to a congressional panel on Friday.
William Brodsky, CEO of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), says in a written statement that there is a "compelling need for the merger" of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
guardian.co.uk – A minister for Sweden, which took over the EU presidency on Wednesday, said hedge funds and private equity firms needed regulation but should not be viewed as a primary cause of the global financial crisis.
Speaking after a visit by the European Commission to Stockholm to mark the Nordic country’s start in the six-month presidency, Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell cautioned against "overzealous" regulation.
What was needed, he told Reuters, was well-considered, balanced regulation that helped avoid systemic risk.
"I believe there is an exaggerated view in some countries that private equity and hedge funds helped pull us into the crisis," Odell told Reuters.
Reuters – A Democratic member of the Securities and Exchange Commission called for stricter supervision of hedge funds, particularly large funds that have an impact on the broader financial markets.
Luis Aguilar said the market turmoil of the past year provides evidence that government oversight of hedge funds has not kept pace with the large role they play in stocks, debt and other assets. The fundamental bargain struck some 60 years ago — that hedge funds should be left alone because they only transact privately with the very rich — may no longer be valid, he added.
