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.
New York Times – Despite the industry’s record losses in 2008, hedge funds generally aren’t lowering their fees without concessions from investors, such as longer lock-up periods and commitments of at least $100 million, money managers and consultants tell Bloomberg News.
While Larry Powell, deputy investment chief for the $16 billion Utah Retirement Systems, could crow at a June industry dinner in New York that more than half of Utah’s 40 hedge-fund managers agreed to changes in their fees, with four adopting his recommendations, top-performing managers haven’t adjusted yesteryear’s top-dollar fees, Bloomberg says.
Reuters – Rumours of an acquisition spree by Fortress Investment Group are greatly exaggerated and may disappoint investors who jumped into the stock during the past week.
The private equity and hedge fund giant last week named director and former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Daniel Mudd as its new CEO. The move frees co-founder Wesley Edens and his partners to focus on buying assets and companies made cheap by what he calls the "Great Deleveraging" of the past year.
Last week, the Financial Times reported Edens told employees during a meeting that Mudd would spearhead the firm’s acquisition efforts.
Bloomberg – Larry Powell, deputy investment chief for the $16 billion Utah Retirement Systems, was convinced in January that hedge funds finally would buckle under the pressure of record losses in 2008 and lower their fees.
He figured it was appropriate to insist on a reduction in the standard industry charge of 2 percent of assets and 20 percent of gains on investments as low as $25 million, according to a memo Powell circulated with hedge funds and investors. Performance fees should be assessed only after a minimum return is exceeded and paid over several years rather than annually, he said.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the head of the Utah Retirement System is taking a stand on what he says are unfair hedge fund fees. As the Journal reports, Utah’s Larry Powell has extracted “better fees” from 10 of the 40 hedge funds in which Utah has a direct investment. In doing so, he has won fans in the institutional investing community, such as the head of the Illinois State Board of Investment, who told the Journal that:
