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 (HedgeCo.Net) – The private equity firm Carlyle Group will liquidate its lone hedge fund, after stating that it failed to achieve “critical mass.”
The fund, Carlyle-Blue Wave Partners Management LP, was a multi-strat fund launched by Rick Goldsmith and Ralph Reynolds. The two managers previously served as co-heads of global equity derivatives at Deutsche Bank.
"This is an orderly liquidation to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all investors," said Carlyle spokesman Chris Ullman.
The fund was among many to suffer losses fueled by the credit crisis that starting brewing last summer. After posting losses in 2007, the fund looked to be turning around and even showed gains of 2 percent in 2008. However, Carlyle said they could not keep up with the cost associated with staff and infrastructure and decided to go forth with the liquidation.
According to a statement published on the company’s website, the fund was "launched in a challenging market and [has not] been able to achieve the critical mass of assets under management necessary to support a multi-strategy fund infrastructure."
Assets under management are now estimated at $600 million, $300 million less than its peak.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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Financial Standard- DWS Investments could well be one of the pioneers of a new era in hedge funds when it launched a new product that offers daily liquidity and pricing to retail investors.
DWS Investments, Deutsche Bank’s global retail asset management arm, last week launched the DWS Strategic Value Fund (Enhanced Liquidity) – a product designed to give exposure to an actively managed, multi-strategy, fund-of-hedge funds.
According to Jody Fitzgerald, investment specialist at DWS Investments, the underlying DWS Strategic Value Fund will face no changes to its operations or strategy as a direct result of the heightened liquidity.
“The liquidity is being synthetically organised outside the fund. The Strategic Value Fund is the underlying product, and sitting outside the fund are investment certificates issued by Deutsche Bank. These certificates are the ones that will provide the liquidity," said Fitzgerald.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – The legal battles that ensued between Ritchie and investors who once tried to force an involuntary bankruptcy upon them are slowing simmering down.
Chicago based Ritchie Capital has dismissed a complaint it brought against Benchmark Plus Management, LLC, an investor in their Multi-Strategy Fund. Benchmark, along with the Sterling Low-Volatility Fund, had originally sought to expose balance sheets and other secretive information when the fund started experiencing declines.
Ritchie Capital filed a suit against the investors following those actions, seeking $5 million in damages and citing a breach of the confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions of the governing documents of the fund.
In April, the involuntary suit was dismissed by a Chicago court, prompting Ritchie to drop their charges and focus on the Multi-Strategy fund, which is not closing according to the company.
“We are pleased that the communication channels between Ritchie and Benchmark Plus have been re-established. Benchmark is supportive of Ritchie Capital’s continued management of the Multi-Strategy Fund and applauds its recent actions of having an independent expert verify the relevant books and records of the Fund,” said Robert Ferguson, Principal of Benchmark Plus. He went on to say that Benchmark has terminated their relationship with their legal counsel, Winston & Strawn, though reasons weren’t stated as to why.
It is estimated that Ritchie is managing approximately $1 billion in assets. Ritchie has not yet dropped their case against Sterling.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@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! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Former Pacific Investment Management Co. portfolio manager John Brynjolfsson is rumored to be starting his own hedge fund in the near future.
Ronald Solberg of Viking Asset Management will team up with Brynjolfsson to run Armored Wolf LLC, which will “vary weightings among real asset sectors and securities based on a top-down assessment of the investing environment,” according to the firm’s website.
Prior to venturing out on his own, Brynjolfsson managed the $14.4 billion Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund at Pimco and has been with the firm since 1989. The Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund employed swap agreements to gain exposure to changes in a broad index of commodity futures prices, using portfolio assets as collateral.
Brynjolfsson also ran the firm’s $15.5 billion Real Return Fund. Both funds saw impressive gains in 2007 during a year when many hedge funds were suffering.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@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! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
HedgeWeek – TriAlpha, the asset management arm of the Stonehage Group, an international wealth management group, has launched the TriAlpha Global Property Strategy Fund, a fund of property hedge funds.
The fund seeks absolute returns by focusing on hedge fund managers that specialise in the global property sector. The portfolio will include property hedge funds from prominent management firms such as Credit Suisse, Thames River Capital and New Star Asset Management.
‘With increasing uncertainty and volatility in the property sector, a fund of hedge funds approach to this asset class looks extremely favourable,’ says TriAlpha director Cobus Kruger. ‘The easy money has been made – given this volatility it’s now time for the skills of hedge fund managers to be employed.’
TriAlpha has a 10-year track record in managing funds of hedge funds, and through Stonehage Property Partners the group has extensive experience in property investment.
‘Using a fund of funds approach allows us to exploit opportunities across global property markets with an absolute return focus through the full property cycle,’ says Sean Curry, head of TriAlpha’s fund of hedge funds team.
Zurich – Harcourt Investment Consulting AG (Harcourt) is pleased to announce the launch of Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds dedicated to harnessing the unique opportunities presented by hedge funds focussed on emerging markets. Through a well diversified portfolio of managers and strategies, the fund affords efficient exposure to emerging markets globally.
The growth outlook for emerging markets countries remains strong; the well publicized decoupling story is real. Consequently, local hedge funds are able to generate returns which are largely decorrelated to other regions. At the same time, the inefficiencies which characterize emerging markets generate ample opportunities for hedge funds to create superior risk adjusted returns.
Harcourt has been actively investing in emerging markets for 10 years. The launch of the new fund is a further step in the evolution of Harcourt’s product offering. Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets joins a range of funds focussed on specific geographies, which today comprises Belmont Asia Ltd, Belmont Europe Ltd and Belmont Latin America Ltd.
Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets seeks to derive attractive returns and reduce risk by investing in multiple strategies associated with emerging markets. With its broad diversification between asset classes, emerging markets regions and hedge fund strategies, Belmont (Lux) Global Emerging Markets aims for an overall low risk profile, and to generate far less volatility than is common with long only emerging market investments. Market risk as well as other inherent risk factors, such as liquidity risk, are minimized through careful selection of high quality managers. The fund’s targeted annualized return of Libor + 400 bps net of fees, with 6% annualized volatility. Currently, there are 29 hedge funds in the portfolio.
The fund was launched on 01 June 2008.
For further information please contact: Margaret Gouthier, Marketing, gouthier@harcourt.ch.
About Harcourt:
Harcourt AG is a global leading provider of alternative investment solutions for institutional investors. Founded in 1997, the company is headquartered in Zurich with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Madrid, Geneva and Cayman Islands. Harcourt is majority owned by strategic partner Vontobel Group. The company manages USD 5.5bn and employs a staff of 90 professionals. Harcourt is exclusively focused on alternative investments and has an excellent track record of superior risk adjusted returns. For further information, please visit: www.harcourt.ch
