Reuters – Anglo-Australian fund manager Henderson Group said first half pretax profit could fall up to 50 percent after revenue was hit by falling markets, hitting its shares on Thursday.

First-half pretax profit fall to 25-28 million pounds ($41-$46 million), including one quarter’s contribution from New Star, the troubled fund management firm it acquired this year, from 50.8 million pounds in the 2008 period.

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Tags: anglo, fund-management-firm, henderson group, new-star, pretax profit, reuters

Reuters – Polar Capital Holdings Plc said on Wednesday that Julian Barnett, the founder and manager of hedge fund Polar Capital Paragon Fund Ltd, has resigned.

The firm said Barnett had decided to leave for personal reasons, and would continue to manage the fund until it was wound down and assets returned to investors.

The London-based fund management firm said the departure was amicable and that Barnett, who set up the Paragon fund in 2004, would take a break from fund management.

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Tags: assets, barnett, fund-management-firm, holdings plc, investors, julian, london, paragon, personal-reasons, reuters

Hartford Courant – Michael Lauer’s estate in the prestigious backcountry neighborhood of this wealthy town looks almost as troubled as the U.S. economy.

The grounds are overgrown with waist-high weeds. A pool cover is filled with filthy, stagnant water. Inside, paint is peeling around the soaring windows.

So when the house of the disgraced hedge fund manager goes up for foreclosure auction today by the Internal Revenue Service, bidders will have to look for its potential — and think about how much they will have to invest to make the 7,300-square-foot contemporary livable again.

Just like taxpayers and business managers eyeing the U.S. economy.

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Tags: cnet, dialogue, fund-management-firm, home-value, investment-bank, middle-class-taxpayers, pariah, r-alexander, specifics, subsidies