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 […]

New York Times - Some of the nation’s universities are trying to sell chunks of their portfolios privately as their endowments swoon with the markets.
Among institutional investors, school endowments aggressively embraced private equity, real estate partnerships, venture capital, commodities, hedge funds and other so-called alternative investments over the last few years. Endowments with more than […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - According to a report in the Financial Times, London hedge fund manager Alan Miller has returned to the industry after a two-year absence by becoming a partner at SilverStreet Capital, a small London fund of hedge funds manager.
Miller, who co-founded New Star Asset Management with John Duffield in 2001, went […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - Morningstar and Barron’s today released highlights of a recent national survey examining the perception and usage of alternative investments among institutions and financial advisors.
“Our survey found that both institutions and advisors want alternative investments that are liquid, transparent, and regulated like traditional investments,” said Steve Deutsch, director of separate accounts […]

Reuters - In spite of suffering more than most markets in the global downturn, hedge funds are likely to bounce back faster than other markets.
That is the view of Barclay’s Capital director Frank Gerhard whose company is a major player in the regional hedge fund market and is in the process of launching a Sharia-compliant […]

New York (HedgeCo.Net) - Halbis Capital Management of HSBC is upping the exposure in their European Alpha hedge fund thanks to cheap stock prices. Bill Maldonado, head of alternative investments, believes it is finally the right time to buy.
"Lots of stocks are trading on increditbly low multiples of 4 to 5 times […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - SGAM (Société Générale Asset Management) Alternative Investments launched the SGAM ETF T-Rex (for total return exposure), on Euronext Paris.
"It is possible to build a portfolio of dynamic strategies designed to replicate overall allocations in the hedge funds industry," SGAM says, "and thus attempt to replicate performances by taking up equivalent […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - Hedge fund managers KP Securities and Sophia Capital Securities announced that they are joining forces, enhancing the 2 firms ability to raise capital for alternative investment managers. The transaction between the two firms was finalized on September 1, 2008.
The new combined company, Belvedere Global Investors LLC, is headquartered in Belvedere, […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - The CEO of Man Group, Peter Clarke, announced the appointment of the new CEO of the Middle East arm as Patrick Merville, to take effect from 1 October, following the retirement of Antoine Massad.
Man, a global leader in alternative investments, was the first hedge fund provider to open a […]

HedgeFund.Net - Swiss funds-of-funds firm Gottex Fund Management is launching a fund that will emulate the investment principles of U.S. “super endowments.”
The new fund will emulate the investment principles of successful U.S. university endowment funds, such as Harvard and Princeton. It will allocate about 65% to alternative investments. The alternative part of the […]

Newsday - A state appeals court has allowed New Jersey to move ahead with a plan to invest some state pension money into hedge funds.
The court ruled Friday, rejecting a challenge by the Communications Workers of America and the New Jersey Education Association, two of the largest and most powerful unions of public employees […]

Seeking Alpha - Sailors out there will know that boats can sail down with the wind - like a leaf being blown across the water - or into the wind at an angle, zigzagging back and forth along the way.  Sailing downwind is easier and since it offers a direct path from A to B, and is therefore faster.  Zigzagging directly […]