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.
Globe and Mail – Math whiz Ravi Sood has ridden the highs and lows of the wild world of hedge funds.
The president of Lawrence Asset Management Inc. made a name for himself running the firm’s flagship hedge fund with stellar returns such as his 75-per-cent gain in 2007.
But the stock market crash has dealt a blow to Lawrence Partners Fund, which suspended redemptions this week after plunging 65 per cent for the first 10 months of this year.
The investment firm “believes it is in the best interests of all shareholders to suspend redemptions for 60 days,” the 32-year-old manager told investors in letter on Monday.
Globe and Mail – Hedge fund manager Ravi Sood is having a rough time navigating through the tsunami that has hit stock markets around the world.
The stellar record of his Lawrence Partners Fund suffered a 48-per-cent hair cut in September, sending its year-to-date loss to 53 per cent for the first nine months of 2008.
Mr. Sood would not comment about his fund, but told investors in a letter that he was forced to "reduce the size of core positions at inopportune levels in midmonth. …
"We cannot restore all of this year’s loss to date in the next few months or quarters, but we are confident we will get there," said the president of Toronto’s Lawrence Asset Management Inc.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Argo Group, an emerging markets investment manager, announced the launch of The Era Shopping Park Iasi. Projected to generate EUR 18 million ($25.7 million) in annual rental income the launch is funded by Argo’s private equity fund, the Argo Capital Partners Fund 1, together with a local joint venture partner, Omilos Group.
"From Argo’s perspective this has been an excellent investment," says Argo Capital Management chief investment officer Andreas Rialas. "Through our partnership with Omilos we acquired two excellent sites at a time when property and land prices were relatively low. Since then both projects are well advanced and demonstrating their potential to generate substantial returns."
The Park is the first of two planned retail parks to operate under the Era Shopping Park brand. The Iasi retail park will be the largest outside of Bucharest and the second largest in Romania.
Based in Romania’s second largest city, situated in the north-east of the country close to the Moldovan border. The Era Shopping Park Iasi will offer on completion more than 115,000 square metres of gross lettable area.
The second facility planned, the Era Shopping Park Oradea, is located in Oradea in the north-west of Romania, close to the Hungarian border. This smaller project with a gross lettable area of 65,000 square metres is expected to open in March next year. The Oradea site is projected to generate annual rental income of EUR 10.5 million.
"Economically, Romania continues to perform strongly. Following its EU accession, there has been a significant uplift in consumer spending and as demonstrated by tenant demand for Era, western European retailers are increasing their presence in the country," Rialas concluded.
The Argo Group has significant experience in property notably through the Argo Real Estate Opportunities Fund, a Guernsey-domiciled closed-ended investment company that invests in the commercial property markets of Central and Eastern Europe. The AIM-listed company is managed by Argo Capital Management Property, which has offices in London, Bucharest and Kiev.
The Argo Capital Partners Fund I was launched in August 2006 to focus on delivering private equity returns from different types of investments and situations in emerging markets. The fund, which was launched targeting a minimum internal rate of return of 40 per cent, has not yet exited any investments.
Its current portfolio includes Infarmasa, a generics pharmaceutical company in Peru, Nigerian commercial and retail bank Intercontinental Bank, Greek triple-play telecommunications Telecoms and Russian regional bank Probusinessbank as well as the Era Shopping Parks.
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!
New York, July 8, 2008 — The Absolute Return New Funds Survey, published in the July/August issue of Absolute Return magazine, shows that new hedge fund launches this year in the Americas totaled $19.5 billion, with the top five funds amassing $13.7 billion, for more than 70% of the total. The number of fund launches is down 50% from last year, highlighting the growing barriers to entry for start-up managers and indicating that large capital flows are continuing to go to established, brand-name firms.
According to Absolute Return, 35 new funds began trading with a total of $19.5 billion between January 1 and June 30, 2008. That’s significantly more capital than in the same period in 2007, when 72 new funds launched with $14 billion. This year, five funds were formed with more than $1 billion each, in contrast to three funds that managed to surpass the billion-dollar mark in last year’s first half. Long/short equity funds dominated, followed by funds that invest in mortgaged-backed securities and those pursuing distressed strategies.
The survey also reported that Goldman Sachs Asset Management amassed $8.1 billion of the $19.5 billion total with $7 billion in its Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, an equity long/short fund, and $1.1 billion in Goldman Mortgage Credit Opportunities. The second-largest launch was Conatus Capital Management’s Conatus Capital Partners fund, which had $2.3 billion. Other sizeable launches included Lone Pine Capital’s $1.8 billion emerging markets fund, Lone Dragon Pine Fund, and Highliner Investment Group’s Alyeska Fund, a market-neutral fund that ended the first half with $1.5 billion.
Total assets under management in the hedge fund industry are $2.65 trillion, according to HedgeFund Intelligence.
About Absolute Return
Absolute Return is the leading source of U.S. hedge fund news and information featuring proprietary data and analysis on more than 3,000 single-manager hedge funds in the Americas. Absolute Return, a monthly magazine, and the Absolute Return Directory and Database, are divisions of HedgeFund Intelligence, a global provider of hedge fund news and data. For more information, please visit www.hedgefundintelligence.com/ar/
Greenwich Time – A Greenwich-based investment management and advisory firm has launched a new hedge fund geared toward lending capital to underserved and niche businesses.
Sands Brothers Asset Management, with offices on Valley Drive in Greenwich, recently unveiled their Genesis Merchant Partners fund, an asset-based lending fund that provides capital despite the tight credit markets, fund officials said.
"It’s very difficult for companies to obtain capital post credit crunch," said Jonathan Feniak, director of marketing and business development and investment for Sands Brothers. "We’re providing loans through Genesis Merchant Partners that are ultimately much cheaper than selling equity at depressed prices."
Asset-based lending is any kind of lending that is secured by an asset. If a loan is not repaid, an asset is taken in exchange.
Genesis, which has 11 employees, will be working with businesses that may otherwise scare more traditional lending sources during the current credit crunch.
For example, according to some published reports, Genesis has been linked to providing financing for the fur trade and animal pelts.
"We look at a broad array of industries that offer up hard assets as collateral and diversification for the portfolio," Feniak said. "We’re filling a need for smaller companies. The niche markets have been the first ones to be excluded by traditional lenders."
