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.
Bloomberg – Credit Suisse Group AG, which sold its Japanese asset management unit in June, will offer alternative investments including private-equity funds to attract the nation’s $800 billion in pension money.
Tokyo-based Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Ltd., the Japanese brokerage unit of Switzerland’s second-largest bank, won approval on Oct. 2 from Japan’s Financial Services Agency to act as an investment management firm, according to Akira Takahashi, the head of the brokerage’s asset management group. The unit in August hired BlackRock Inc.’s Shinichiro Sato to head a six-member investment team, Takahashi said.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Third Avenue Management LLC, the investment adviser to the Third Avenue Funds has launched the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund, capitalizing on credit, distressed and value equity investing.
“The current market environment provides attractive opportunities for experienced credit pickers like Third Avenue Management to generate meaningful returns,” David Barse, Chief Executive Officer of Third Avenue Management, said, “Portfolio Manager Jeff Gary and Senior Research Analyst Thomas Lapointe will lead the effort of managing the new fund.”
Prior to joining Third Avenue, Gary was at BlackRock Financial, which he joined in 2003 as the Portfolio Manager and head of the high-yield and distressed investment team which managed approximately $17 billion in assets in various mutual funds and institutional accounts.
Lapointe will focus on identifying and researching opportunities in high-yield and bank loan investments. Lapointe has over 17 years of investment experience and was previously responsible for managing approximately $6 billion in high-yield assets, as Co-Head of High-Yield Investments for Columbia Management.
“Third Avenue’s style emphasizes credit selection, total return and a deep value approach,” Gary said, “Our opportunistic mandate allows us to invest in a wide range of credit securities – including bank loans, high-yield and convertible securities – that have the best risk-adjusted return potential which distinguishes the Fund from typical high-yield funds.”
The fund will offer two classes of shares, Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund Investor Class, and Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund Institutional Class.
Third Avenue Management has approximately $14 billion in assets under management and offers value-oriented strategies through mutual funds, UCITS, separate accounts and alternative investment vehicles.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net alex@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!
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Alternative investment manager and advisor, Climate Change Capital, (CCC) has been appointed to manage a climate change fund for Dublin-domiciled UCITS platform, Russell OpenWorld.
The Global Climate Change Fund will be managed by Climate Change Capital’s Global Equities’ team of Paul Udall and Ronnie Lim.
The new fund will invest globally in sectors impacted by climate change. Udall and Lim, both Managing Directors at Climate Change Capital together have over 30 years’ investment experience, and over 12 years’ experience in managing specialist environmental equities. Prior to joining Climate Change Capital in 2007, both worked in the Sustainable Investment team at Morley Fund Management (now Aviva Global Investors), a top-ranked Socially Responsible Investing team.
“Climate Change Capital is uniquely positioned globally as an investment firm to benefit from the significant investment opportunities that exist in climate change,” Shaun Mays, Chief Executive Officer at CCC, said, “Russell has a highly-regarded research and due diligence process, and we are pleased to be selected as the manager for one of their specialist, thematic funds.”
The fund aims to provide significant excess returns above global equity markets by investing in a manager that takes high conviction active positions in companies that are affected by climate change. This is a relatively new area of investing, enabling investors to add an innovative and differentiated return stream to their portfolios.
With over US $1.5 billion under management as of April 2009, Climate Change Capital aims to provide attractive returns to investors, demonstrating the financial opportunity associated with the low carbon economy.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net alex@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!
Reuters – Thames River Capital is hoping to launch two investment grade credit strategies later this year and is looking at how best to target the U.S. institutional market, chief executive Charlie Porter told Reuters.
The independent fund house, which manages $11.5 billion (6.9 billion pounds) in traditional long-only and hedge-fund-style products, has been adding to its investment team to support new products, and hopes to scoop up rivals weighed down by the financial crisis.
Reuters UK – Thames River Capital is hoping to launch two investment grade credit strategies later this year and is looking at how best to target the U.S. institutional market, chief executive Charlie Porter told Reuters.
The independent fund house, which manages $11.5 billion (6.9 billion pounds) in traditional long-only and hedge-fund-style products, has been adding to its investment team to support new products, and hopes to scoop up rivals weighed down by the financial crisis.
"Whenever you have periods of turmoil and tumult, interesting opportunities are thrown up," Porter said in an interview.
HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Swiss-based alternative asset manager, Partners Group, has been selected as the manager for a private equity secondary mandate by the sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC).
KIC aims to profit from current dislocations in the secondary market which offers high discounts to net asset value and attractive return potential. The hedge fund firm has four offices located in the Asia-Pacific region, with Singapore being the second-largest office worldwide.
”We are very pleased to launch this secondary investment mandate with Partners Group.” Dong-Ik Lee, Head of the Alternative Investment Team at KIC, said, ”We believe that leveraging a very strong and experienced manager like Partners Group is the right way to explore and profit from this market.”
Steffen Meister, CEO of Partners Group, added, ”We are extremely pleased and honored to work with the Korea Investment Corporation, which we consider to be one of the most prestigious sovereign wealth funds around the world and one of the most sophisticated investors in Asia.”
Partners Group has over CHF 24 billion ($22 billion) in investment programs under management in private equity, private debt, private real estate, private infrastructure, absolute return strategies and listed alternatives.
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HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Rosemawr Management LLC, two months ago launched the Rosemawr Municipal Partner Fund LP,. The fund has seen returns of 0.82% in May and 0.86% in June, since inception on May 1st 2009.
With former Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, Greg Shlionsky, as portfolio manager, the new fund’s investment approach is fundamentals-driven. The investment team believes it possesses a unique understanding of municipal investments’ fundamentals. The investment strategy is based on thorough analysis of securities’ structure and credit, rather than on short-term momentum or technicals.
The fund limits its capital allocation (before leverage) to any one investment to 15% of the Fund (with exceptions made for short-term very liquid securities). Leverage is only applied to securities that the Investment Team considers liquid.
Rosemawr Management LLC, the Fund Manager, is an SEC-registered Investment Adviser focused exclusively on the U.S. Municipal market. The Fund’s Investment Team is comprised of professionals who draw on decades of senior-level experience overseeing municipal portfolios and major trading desks to manage credit, interest rate and event risk. Average Principal’s tenure in the municipal market is 20 years.
In addition to the fund, Rosemawr oversees value-added municipal strategies for family offices (including those of Forbes 100 and Forbes 400 families), ultra high net-worth individuals, and select institutional clients.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Alternative asset manager, Duet Group, has launched the first Middle East and North Africa (MENA) multistrategy hedge fund "Duet MENA Opportunities Fund". The new fund will target both equity and fixed income markets in the MENA region and will be managed by Duet MENA Limited, a DIFC licensed asset manager.
Rabih Sultani, Chief Investment Officer, will manage the fund under the leadership of Hedi Ben Mlouka, Chief Executive Officer of Duet MENA. Rabih brings over 9 years of fund management and research experience across equities and fixed income.
"The investment team has one of the longest established track records in the Middle East." Hedi Ben Mlouka said, "The current unfolding crisis has created unprecedented opportunities in global markets. Such opportunities appear to be even more eye-catching in the MENA region, and we, Duet Group, are well positioned to take advantage of these prospects for our clients. I am pleased to announce that Duet’s commitment to the Middle East has led to the allocation of significant capital to the fund from existing shareholders and clients".
The new hedge fund will deploy three main investment strategies: Conviction, Relative Arbitrage and Opportunistic trading. These will be premised on pricing dislocations and valuation imbalances that are created from time to time under the influence of economic, political and capital flow factors.
The hedge fund manager has $2 billion of equity under management and their flagship hedge fund ‘Duet Global Opportunities Fund’ was awarded Best Equity Market Neutral Fund of the year in 2007 by Euro Hedge and HFM.
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Fortune Magazine - Is the current downturn merely a severe slump, or are we facing a second coming of the Great Depression? That’s the question everyone is asking these days. But Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates and manager of what is now the world’s biggest hedge fund, has been preparing to answer it for eight years.
In 2001 he had his investment team build a "depression gauge" into the firm’s computer system, line by line in the code, to adjust the portfolio’s strategy and risk profile if the economy ever entered a massive deleveraging period – the kind of multiyear process that ricocheted through the world economy in the 1930s and that has eviscerated markets periodically through the ages.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Ansher Fund Management is planning an on-site tour of emerging investment opportunities in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, two representative markets across the Central Asian region.
Beginning in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan and then to Almaty, the financial center of Kazakhstan, Ansher’s investment team will deliver detailed presentations on the region’s investment opportunities. The tour begins in Zurich on March 31st.
"During the visit, you will have a unique opportunity to gain a direct insight into political and business environment, as well as into potential lucrative investment opportunities of the Region." Ravshan Yunusov, Managing Director said, "You will have a chance to meet with the representatives to understand the legal and regulatory framework for the protection of foreign investments in these countries."
Ansher says they will assist with booking/flight/tickets/visas, upon arrival at the airports. Contact www.ansherholding.com for more details.
"We strongly believe that as a result of this trip, you will be pleasantly surprised with the investment potential of the Region, and explore the new frontier markets that offer opportunities for both diversification and growth of your portfolio." Yunusov said, "Central Asia and the Caucasus is still expected to remain as the fastest growing Region of the world according to IMF. Accordingly, our funds have performed strongly in 2008 (+14.2%), and we still anticipate significant growth opportunities in the Region for 2009."
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Todd Groome is joining Diversified Global Asset Management (DGAM) as a Managing Director, effective February 1, 2009. Responsible for business development, Groome will also advise the investment team on macro investment themes and the global economic and policy environment.
"I am extremely pleased to join DGAM, a firm that is known for its expertise in hedge fund investing, its focus on business and operational integrity, and its leading edge thinking in a variety of investment areas, including in particular DGAM’s strong commitment to building strategic relationships with its clients." Todd Groome said." Groome will be based out of DGAM’s Toronto office.
With a wealth of experience in capital markets in both the public and private sectors, previously positioned as Managing Director and Head of the Financial Institutions Groups of Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse in London, managing the European High Yield origination business for a period of time.
He also worked with Merrill Lynch and was a consultant to Hovde Capital Advisors, a hedge fund and merchant banking operation in Washington, focusing on financial institutions.
In December, 2008, Groome was named non-Executive Chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA"), with effect from January 1, 2009.
George Main, CEO of DGAM, commented further, saying "I am delighted that Todd Groome will be joining the firm. Todd’s deep experience, insights and stature in the global financial community will be invaluable assets as we take DGAM into our next growth phase."
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) – Cayman Island based hedge fund manager Rival Capital Management Inc., announced the launch of the Rival North American RRSP Growth Fund, an RRSP eligible fund that will invest in the current Rival North American Growth Fund LP.
The new fund plans to buy units in the current fund instead of holding individual securities, the fund enables accredited investors who wish to make RRSP investments to gain access to the Firm’s flagship Fund through their RRSP.
Investing primarily from both a long and short perspective in small and midcap growth stocks listed in Canada and the US, the fund’s investment process is centered around a top-down disciplined technical and fundamental approach. The fund employs a rigorous proprietary screening process to identify stocks exhibiting certain technical and fundamental characteristics that Rival considers key to identifying long term performance.
Tony Warzel, Chief Investment Officer and head of the Rival investment team is primarily responsible for stock selection as well as overall portfolio management of the Rival North American Growth Fund.
With approximately $14.9 million in assets under management, Rival Capital was founded in 2006. It is a niche investment management firm that provides pooled fund portfolio management services to accredited investors.
