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.
Daily Telegraph – Lawyers are being galvanised on behalf of a raft of hedge funds which claim the financial watchdog has illegitimately extended its powers and caused "wide-spread capital destruction."
One said: "The FSA’s remit is to maintain orderly markets – the markets were working fine, only the banks were going bust. With one swoop, the regulators have wiped out perfectly legitimate businesses and have cost some funds millions. They have gone for the big political hit without a thought for the damage they are wreaking. There may be unintended consequences but it’s outrageous and illegal."
The backlash follows a week in which the multi-billion pound hedge fund industry has been plunged into crisis. Prime brokers in London estimated that 35 per cent of European hedge funds were organising emergency measures to avoid closing funds as a ban on short-selling has hamstrung managers at a time when they need flexibility to survive.
Bloomberg – Public pension funds in the U.S. are increasing bets on high-risk hedge funds and real estate in an attempt to fill deficits in retirement plans and make up for their worst performance in six years.
New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is asking lawmakers to increase a cap limiting the amount of so- called alternative investments in the state’s Common Retirement Fund, the third-biggest U.S. public pension at $153.9 billion. South Carolina’s retirement system adopted a plan in February to invest as much as 45 percent of its $29 billion in hedge funds, private equity, real estate and other alternatives, from nothing 18 months ago.
“We need some more flexibility,” DiNapoli said at an Aug. 4 press conference in Albany. The Common Retirement Fund, whose 2.6 percent gain in the year ended March 31 was its worst since 2003, is authorized to invest as much as a quarter of its assets in alternative investments. DiNapoli declined to say how much he wants the limit increased. The fund doesn’t have a deficit.
MSN India- ICICI Venture Fund Management is planning to list its $1.5 billion real estate fund on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
According to sources, the fund house will be providing the flexibility in the document to list the realty fund anytime during its life span.
ICICI Venture, the largest PE fund in India, currently manages about $2.5 billion in assets.
Its investment focus areas span across private equity, buyouts, real estate and mezzanine financing. The country’s largest private equity fund plans to raise $3 billion for two funds When contacted, an official spokesperson for ICICI Ventures offered no comments.
CityWire.co.uk- RWC Partners has recruited Carmel Peters and Kirsty McLaren for the launch of an Asian-focused fund.
Investment boutique RWC, which changed its name from MPC Investors earlier this month, has hired Peters and McLaren from Sofaer Capital.
The duo has been brought in to co-manage the RWC Asia Ascent Fund, which will be launched later in the year.
The new fund will invest across the Asia region and be benchmarked against the Asian (ex-Japan) indices. It will adopt Ucits III status to allow the flexibility to short indices and stocks.
