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Reuters – Hedge fund manager PMA has the capacity to manage as much as $4 billion without curtailing returns given current market opportunities in Asia, its chief executive said in an interview.
The Hong Kong-based firm, which now manages about $2.5 billion, has also seen significant inflows into its funds this year despite the downturn in Asian financial markets, PMA CEO Farhat Malik said.
"The way that the platform is structured at the moment, in terms of capacity, in terms of investment opportunities that we see in the marketplace, we can easily go from $2.5 billion to $4 billion, we feel without sacrificing performance," he told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.
"We’ve had significant inflows from institutional investors outside of Asia," he added.
Carbon prices are rebounding and diverging from an overall decline in commodities and oil on Tuesday as London-based Camco International [London: CAO] recorded a $2.6 million (US Dollar) profit on the sale of 151,288 tons of carbon credits on the spot market. The CERs were sold to an undisclosed buyer outside of the European Union for an average price of just over 19 euros per ton versus an average acquisition price of just 7.5 euros per ton. With Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) currently trading around 19.75 euros per ton on Tuesday, Camco’s portfolio of carbon credits is worth over $1.2 billion [USD] at current market prices — including over 150 projects which are expected to generate 151 million CERs by 2012 (of which 41.8 million will go directly to Camco).
EcoloCap Solutions [pdf file] [OTCBB: ECOS] is a US-traded stock that I own based on its carbon credit hedge fund business model; whereby the Company generates CERs in emerging and frontier markets such as Vietnam at a below-market cost and then sells them at higher spot market prices in developed countries such as the US. EcoloCap is focusing its initial efforts in Vietnam and China (which account for over half of all earned carbon credits followed by India at around 10%) through an extensive network of contacts in Eastern Asia — leveraging upon its technical expertise in the implementation of clean energy projects and experience in obtaining United Nations certification for these projects. EcoloCap currently has a total of seven signed renewable energy projects which will generate an estimated $39 million in revenues (versus a market cap of just $21.5 million) and $15 million in cumulative cash flow through 2012, in addition to tradable carbon credits.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has received a vote of confidence from FRM Capital Advisors in the form of a major investment. Victory Park Capital plans on expanding their asset-based lending fund in hopes of taking advantage of the favorable market conditions associated with this kind of strategy.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with such an experienced team,” says FRM Chief Executive Clive Peggram. “We believe it is a very good time in the credit cycle to pursue an asset-based lending strategy.”
Victory Park Capital Advisors was founded last year and provides asset-backed loans to companies who are in need of financing and can’t always turn to the bank. Asset based lending is a popular strategy in today’s current market turmoil with the large amount of high rises and other developments being constructed. High interest rates are usually tacked on the loans, while the building is put up as collateral.
“We’re very pleased to form a relationship with Victory Park Capital,” says Blaine Tomlinson, FRM’s founder and group chairman. “As an established and experienced team, they are in an excellent position to capitalize on the attractive financing opportunities available to those who have capital to deploy.”
FRM Capital Advisors is active in the hedge fund seeding industry, seeking out potential opportunity among new funds. Hedge fund seeding is a great way for new funds to get the capital needed to get off the ground. Companies who provide the financing will work out some sort of the deal with the fund, perhaps sharing in the profits once the fund starts posting returns.
“We are incredibly excited about our relationship with FRM Capital Advisors and we are gratified that it has concluded that our team and strategy warrant such a significant investment,” said Victory Park Managing Principle Richard Levy.
FRM is a global fund of hedge funds group with over $15 billion of assets under management.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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InvestorDaily- While Australian superannuation funds and institutional investors have discovered hedge funds, their participation is not to the extent of most of their developed market peers.
But the current market downturn may change that behaviour, because the juicy returns they had become used to from the traditional asset classes have disappeared for the moment.
"The industry super funds were early adopters of hedge funds, but for most other dealer groups and institutions, they didn’t have the imperative in 2003-2007 to look fully into alternative assets, because traditional ones were motoring along so well," Lonsec head of investment consulting Amanda Gillespie says.
"When you’ve got investors and advisers looking at the phenomenal returns we’ve seen in traditional markets – up until the last 12 months – it’s been a really hard sell to talk them into making really big allocations to alternatives in that environment. But I think that more of them are ready to look at alternative investment categories now."
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Jacksonville, Florida-based Advantage Capital Equity Solutions is set to unveil its new asset based lending hedge fund at the end of this month according to an article published in FINalternatives.
The Advantage Capital Equity Fund II will locate nonperforming assets and purchase them at a discounted rate such as real estate taken over by banks following foreclosures. Since the subprime fallout hit states like Florida and California the hardest, the fund will start focusing on those geographical areas initially.
“We see a bottoming of the real estate market six to 18 months out but that doesn’t really affect us,” said Bob Parsons, Senior Vice President. “As far as California and Florida are concerned, I live in Florida and we’re starting to see some stabilization in pricing in Jacksonville. There’s no bottom in sight yet for high-rise condos in south Florida but we don’t lend on high rises.”
ABL funds are gaining popularity, mostly because they tend to thrive in the current market conditions. Florida and California have record numbers of foreclosures and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The foreclosures left an array of opportunity for investors to purchase the properties far below face value. Other asset based lending hedge funds focus on providing loans to developers who are in a pinch and cannot get quick financing from a bank. The hedge funds then tack on high interest rates and build up their pool of capital. If the borrower fails to pay back the debt, the property is then seized by the hedge fund.
The hedge fund has a $100 million target. It follows the launch of their private equity fund, Advantage Capital Equity Fund I, which was launched in May. The firm is seeking a seed investor for the p.e. fund, hoping to raise $74 million.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
