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.
Journalism.co.uk – The Financial Times has appointed Sam Jones as hedge fund correspondent. In his new role, Jones will be in charge of covering the global hedge fund industry.
"Hedge funds are in a state of crisis: they are hugely secretive and facing extremely tough times as governments move in with new regulation and banks pull back their lending operations," he told Journalism.co.uk.
Opalesque – Last week, we heard of fund launches from Galena (energy); Verulam (commodity); Twin Tree; Paulson & Co (distressed property); Abax (Asia macro); Odey (Ucits III); Pictet (agriculture); and Liontrust (European).
The Canadian Hedge Watch Hedge Fund Composite Index was up 2.26% in April (+4.66% YTD); RBC Hedge 250 Index 2.37%, 2.6% YTD; Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index 3.4% (est.), 3.11% YTD; Lyxor’s investable Global Hedge Fund index -0.45%, 0.93% YTD; Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index 3.49%, 3.91% YTD; Scotia Capital Canadian Hedge Fund Index -0.61%, 4.98% YTD; And the Eurekahedge April report showed hedge funds were up 3.9% YTD, and that the industry assets were now at $1.30tn.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Global hedge fund association AIMA (The Alternative Investment Management Association), has published the world’s first global Guide to Sound Practices for Funds of Hedge Funds Managers.
The guide was developed by some of the world’s leading funds of hedge funds practitioners. It focuses on areas including risk management, due diligence, disclosure to investors, valuation, management of conflicts of interest and other operational issues. The group consisted of Unigestion, Financial Risk Management; Man Investments; Fauchier Partners; Pacific Alternative Asset Management; Ivy Asset Management; HDF Finance; Penjing Asset Management and Simmons & Simmons.
“AIMA has produced a huge body of work on sound practices and this was the ‘missing book in the library’." Andrew Baker, CEO of AIMA, and a member of the steering group, commented, "It is particularly important given recent events that there should be dedicated guidelines for funds of hedge funds managers. Funds of funds are a critical sector in the industry, are of particular interest to institutional investors, and it is right that AIMA has taken the lead in documenting sound practices. We hope that these guidelines that have been drawn up by such a distinguished and experienced group will be widely observed within the industry.”
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Reuters – A global hedge fund industry group backs U.S. plans to require hedge fund advisers to register with federal regulators, a move that would align U.S. rules with those in the UK.
The Alternative Investment Management Association, in remarks to be delivered to a U.S. congressional committee on Thursday, also said registration creates a dialogue between the hedge fund adviser and supervisor that supports greater understanding of hedge fund activities.
The London-based group, which represents more than 1,100 hedge fund firms in more than 40 countries, is among those due to testify to the capital markets subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Other witnesses on the registration issue include the Teacher’s Retirement System of Texas and well-known short-seller James Chanos.
Saudi Gazette – By end of 2013, Middle East investors will account for about $194 billion in hedge fund assets, or about 7.5 percent of total global hedge fund assets, a new global study of institutional investors, investment consultants and hedge funds released on Monday by the Bank of New York Mellon and Casey, Quirk & Associates, said.
This is an almost 30 percent increase on 2007, when the Middle East accounted for about $109 billion, or a 5.8 percent share.
Bloomberg – The global hedge fund industry may shrink by 11 percent this year as funds liquidate and investor withdrawals persist, a Deutsche Bank AG survey said.
Industry assets may fall to $1.33 trillion by December, according to 68 percent of the 1,000 investors surveyed by Germany’s largest bank last month. The respondents, which hold a combined $1.1 trillion of hedge-fund assets, on average expect outflows from the industry to accelerate to $168 billion this year, 8 percent faster than last year.
The deepest financial crisis since the 1930s led to the worst average hedge-fund performance in history last year, prompting funds managed by Citadel Investment Group LLC and D.E. Shaw & Co. LP. to limit withdrawals to stem record outflows.
“If 2008 was a story about performance of hedge funds, 2009 is very much going to be a story about restructuring,” said Sean Capstick, Deutsche Bank’s London-based global head of capital introduction. “Our survey indicates redemptions will continue as a phenomenon for the foreseeable future.”
In a March 13 note to investors, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Brad Hintz forecast hedge-fund assets to fall 18 percent this year, dropping below $1 trillion before a recovery in 2013.
The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index retreated 18 percent in 2008, its steepest annual decline. Still, that was less than half the 42 percent slump of the MSCI World Index.
“We welcome the communiqué from the G20 Finance Ministers. AIMA, as the trade body for the global hedge fund industry, has already announced its support both for the authorisation and regulation of hedge fund managers worldwide with their national regulators, and for the disclosure of systemically significant information.
This is an endorsement of the industry leadership displayed by AIMA when we put out the new policy platform on 24th February that featured a series of major proposals to increase transparency. We are pleased that these proposals are reflected in this communiqué.
We are also glad that the G20 made reference in their Progress Report on the Washington Action Plan to the global initiative on the convergence of hedge fund industry standards by AIMA, the Managed Funds Association (MFA) and the members of the Asset Managers Committee established by the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
Our three groups, which represent the great majority of hedge fund managers globally, are working towards a common set of principles to take this process forward, which is a major step forward by the industry worldwide.”
Andrew Baker, Chief Executive of AIMA London, 16th March 2009
For media enquiries, please contact Christen Thomson, AIMA Director of Communications, on +44 (0)2078228380; email – cthomson@aima.org
About AIMA
As the only truly representative global hedge fund association, AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, has more than 1,200 corporate members worldwide, based in 43 countries.
Members include leading hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting firms and fund administrators. They all benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals and its excellent reputation with regulators worldwide.
AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its members’ interests and provides them with a vibrant global network. AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website, www.aima.org.
Business Standard – Spooked by increasing performance losses and record investor redemptions, the global hedge fund industry saw net outflows worth $158.91 billion in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2008, the highest level since 1994.
According to a report by fund tracking firm Lipper, global hedge fund assets are estimated to have decreased from $1.5 trillion in September to $1.29 trillion at the end of December 2008.
All hedge fund sub-strategies posted negative money flows (outflows) in the three-month period with cumulative net outflows in 2008 as the industry witnessed a collapse in global equity markets, liquidity issues and failure of a number of key institutions.
In absolute terms, the performance of Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index in Q4 2008 registered -10.21 per cent, the second worst quarterly performance since the start of the index. The index had posted 10.33 per cent negative returns during the third quarter. "A majority of hedge fund managers were hit by panic selling and deleveraging that followed, combined with changes in broker requirements and the enforcement of a ban on short selling in certain financial stocks," said the Lipper report.
In US dollar terms, the largest hedge fund sub-strategy outflows were experienced by long/short equity at $42.52 billion.
