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Bloomberg – Kenneth Heebner, manager of the top-ranked U.S. stock mutual fund, is seeking as much as $5 billion for his first hedge fund.
Heebner, who has worked in the mutual-fund business almost four decades, formed a private investment partnership in June called Wayfarer Capital LP, according to Aug. 14 regulatory filings. The size of the fund, which had raised $73 million from wealthy investors and institutions, may vary from the target, Wayfarer Capital said in the filings.
A private fund would free Heebner from most regulatory oversight and allow him to buy or sell any assets, unlike mutual funds, which are more tightly controlled. Hedge funds also charge higher fees, including a cut of investment profits.
“He has wanted to do this for a long time,” said Janine Hermsdorf, who retired in December as the head trader at Heebner’s Boston-based Capital Growth Management LP after working with him for 27 years. “This was just the time to go ahead.”
Martha McGuire, a spokeswoman for Capital Growth Management, declined to comment on the filings by Wayfarer Capital with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators. Stephen McShea, an attorney in the Boston office of Dechert LLP, the law firm that helped set up the partnership, also declined to comment.
Heebner’s CGM Focus Fund had the best performance among diversified U.S. stock mutual funds this year through June 30, gaining 17 percent including dividends, compared with the 12 percent decline by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. The fund has since fallen 29 percent, while the benchmark index is off 3.9 percent, illustrating the swings that often accompany Heebner’s approach to stock-picking.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) – The Directors of Cayman based Camelot Global Investments announced a management buy-out of their hedge fund, in cooperation with Merlin Global Enterprise.
Camelot will join Arkanar Financial Holdings, with the head office being relocated to Tallinn, Estonia. A branch will remain in Caymans.
The key staff members will stay, "It is important that we were able to maintain all trading and administrative staff," the board announced, "We have only lost the former majority shareholders who decided to retire and leave the industry."
Bob Torkelund has joined as Managing Director and co-shareholder, he will head the entire promotion, distribution and the servicing of funds. Torkelund will also lead the launches of new products according to market demand.
"I am really delighted to be able to be part of this young, dynamic team especially because we have been working together for a while on a consulting basis and have got to know each other very well and know where to support each other. The combination of my experience and contact network makes it a thrilling opportunity for both parties”, Torkelund said.
Apart from Torkelund, head trader Thomas Feldt and Jevgeni Geller are still shareholders and directors in the company. Having contributed largely to the past success of Camelot, they and are enthusiastic about the challenge. Geller will concentrate on business development, overseeing all operations to ensure continuity in performance and service. Feldt will continue to head the trading desk and will be responsible for investment strategy.
The investment strategy will reflect Camelot’s previous success. Feldt analyses systematic trading and global macro strategy, making adjustments in conjunction with market change in order to ensure constant development in the returns.
On September 15th 2008 Arkanar Financial will be launching their first Cayman licensed fund in cooperation with Capita Financial, Gibraltar.
One of the significant differences with non-regulated funds is that they can offer investments from as little as $10 000 and subsequent deals from $1000.
Arkanar Financial Holdings also utilises electronic clearing facilities ( Euroclear /Clearstream), accepting deals on a -payment against delivery- basis which opens basically for a large number of Europeans banks to be able to invest on behalf of their clients, a big step for the more general investment population to be able to test hedge funds without having to risk a large part of their portfolio on one position.
The initial offering period will be running till September 30th.
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FINalternatives- London-based VCM Fund Management is prepping a trio of hedge funds to invest in alternative energy, macro futures and emerging hedge fund managers.
The firm next month will launch two hedge funds in partnership with K2 Capital, the alternative energy hedge fund shop founded by former Vantage Derivatives head trader Andrew Swaine. First up, the firm will offer the VCM K2 Alternative Energy Segregated Portfolio, a thematic, global equity long/short and derivatives trading strategy investing in companies positively affected by climate change with a specific focus on the energy sector. It uses a bottom-up approach to stock selection focusing on value companies in the long book, with an emphasis on large cap stocks.
“The portfolio’s large cap bias naturally creates a low volatility, which is further enhanced through protective hedging,” said the firm.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net)- Recent news from Reuters shows that there is a booming interest in foreign exchange markets. According to the article, FX traders are seeing an increasing demand from institutional players, pension funds, and corporations. However, searching the internet will reveal few true FX hedge funds.
Tri Global FX, a New York based FX management company, has been managing FX accounts on behalf of customers for several years. The firm’s head trader, Gregory Cotter, was a Chief trader at Societe Generale from 1998 – 2004, and has held similar positions at institutions such as Swiss Volksbank, Banque Indo-Suez, Credit Suisse, First Chicago, and European American Bank.
Recently, Futures Magazine has ranked Mr. Cotter a top trader in 2007. Their managed accounts program, Metro Forex, has been top ranked by Currency Trader magazine and by the Barclay Institutional Report.
Tri Global FX is pleased to announce the launching of a new FOREX hedge fund, Cable Forex Funds. More details about the fund can be obtained by registering at their website, http://cableforexfunds.com/.
There are few true FOREX hedge funds, Cable Forex Funds aims to be a leading fund in the FX market. With an uncertain economy, volatile markets, and a declining dollar, any portfolio should include FX. Even if the US Dollar recovers, it can still have a negative impact on a portfolio as traders have been investing overseas during recent EURO boom. FX is an asset class by itself, in addition to providing additional alpha to any portfolio.
