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 – Hari Kumar, a founding partner of New York-based asset manager TPG-Axon Capital Management LP, is starting his own hedge fund with $75 million of initial capital from him and a partner, said two people familiar with the plan.
LionRock Capital Pte, based in Singapore, will begin investing June 1 with the money from Kumar and Julian Snaith, the people said. The multistrategy fund will focus on trading Asia-Pacific stocks, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.
LionRock may raise capital from external investors at a later date, though the timing and terms haven’t been decided, they added. Kumar and Snaith declined to comment when reached through e-mail.
Bloomberg – Artradis Fund Management Pte., whose volatility funds posted the best returns among Asian hedge funds last year, is betting continued market swings will help them outperform again in 2009.
While volatility will decline to “more normal levels” from the records set in 2008, the funds will continue “to be able to take advantage of significant moves in markets,” said Julian Ings-Chambers, a managing director at Artradis, Singapore’s biggest hedge-fund firm.
The $2.4 billion Artradis AB2 Fund, managed by Stephen Diggle and Richard Magides, rose 35 percent last year, according to the firm. The $1.8 billion Artradis Barracuda Fund, which uses less borrowed money than the AB2, added 27 percent. The funds, which place wagers on price swings, had the highest returns among Asia-focused hedge funds that manage at least $500 million, according to Eurekahedge Pte., a Singapore-based data provider.
International Herald Tribune – Fund manager Polar Capital Holdings said on Friday that assets under management in the nine months to December fell by 22 percent to $2.45 billion (1.65 billion pounds), due to market deterioration.
The fund manager, which runs hedge funds and long-only funds, said it expects $500 million of redemptions in the three months to March.
The resignation of Julian Barnett, manager of its Paragon hedge fund, is expected to bring about a further $400 million outflows when the fund is wound up.
Reuters – Polar Capital Holdings Plc said on Wednesday that Julian Barnett, the founder and manager of hedge fund Polar Capital Paragon Fund Ltd, has resigned.
The firm said Barnett had decided to leave for personal reasons, and would continue to manage the fund until it was wound down and assets returned to investors.
The London-based fund management firm said the departure was amicable and that Barnett, who set up the Paragon fund in 2004, would take a break from fund management.
Financial Standard – As the GFC batters confidence in long-only equities, sentiment is turning to hedge funds, provided you partner with groups that are reputable and well run, said Spencer Young, chief executive officer of HFA Holdings.
The result is institutional investors are looking to steer money towards hedge funds as they seek a safe haven for their capital, said Young.
"While investors in traditional long-only funds have lost around 40 per cent of their invested capital in the year to date, the hedge fund industry has recorded average losses of less than half that amount – around 18 per cent – and proven its long-term value," he said.
Young said several major consultancy groups are now forecasting institutional investors to tip more money into the hedge fund sector as they re-evaluate their strategies following the global market melt-down.
