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.
Explore the most informative hedge fund articles and take the news with you, using HedgeCo RSS.
Still want more? Browse the hedge fund blogs, authored by hedge fund industry experts.
West Palm Beach, Dec 15, 2008 – Adding to its array of new and interactive features, HedgeCo.Net has unveiled the Hedge Fund blog platform, which provides both accredited investors and the general public the rare opportunity to view the world of hedge funds through the eyes of the industry experts themselves.
The HedgeCo.Net blogs provide a much anticipated compilation of expert analysis and opinion, while giving the user a detailed look into the minds and biases of industry gurus, which are all too often absent in mainstream media.
HedgeCo has already gathered a group of experts who will be contributing their timely knowledge to HedgeCo’s audience through the blogs. Topics will include everything from regulation issues and political influence, to due diligence procedures and tips on investing.
"Over the years HedgeCo.Net has worked towards promoting transparency in the Hedge Fund industry," explains HedgeCo Co-Founder Evan Rapoport. "The HedgeCo.Net database has gone a long way to provide simple communication between accredited investors and hedge funds. The Hedge Fund blogs further promote this idea by providing a way for the general public to get a glimpse into the lives of hedge fund professionals. The traffic and response we have gotten so far has been very positive."
To peruse the blogs or post a response, visit http://www.hedgeco.net/blogs.
Reuters - Forensic accountants, former prosecutors and private investigators list some potential red flags at hedge funds that might indicate irregularities and should make investors take notice and probe further.
*Returns that seem too good to be true. If a fund is reporting spectacular returns at a time most of the industry is suffering, industry experts urged investors to be skeptical and dig below the top line numbers.
Reuters - Up to half of Russian hedge funds could go out of business as the financial crisis sends investors fleeing and the stock market continues to fall, according to industry experts.
Speaking at the Russia Alternative Investment Summit on Wednesday, Simon Fentham-Fletcher, head of fund of hedge funds at Raiffeisen Bank, said in a worst-case scenario, 50 percent of Russian hedge funds could close.
The primary source of failure will be a lack of funding as performance deteriorates and investors redeem their money, he said.
"If they’re not well-capitalised they can’t look after themselves properly. It’s expensive to run a hedge fund out of Russia and you can eat into your reserves very quickly," said Fentham-Fletcher, who is based in Moscow.
Los Angeles Times - Traders and investment bankers might have more to worry about than dwindling bonus pools this year as mass firings on Wall Street are set to hit a record.
The fallout from this year’s global credit crisis has claimed jobs throughout Wall Street, from hedge fund managers to floor traders and beyond. More than 110,000 people have lost their jobs so far this year, and some industry experts forecast it could come close to 200,000 before the year is over.
Even the financial industry’s biggest name isn’t immune. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world’s biggest investment bank, made plans Thursday to cut 3,200 positions from its staff of 32,000. Barclays Capital is in the midst of purging 3,000 jobs as part of its takeover of Lehman Bros., and Bank of America Corp.’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. is sure to add thousands more.
24/7 Wall St. - The idea of bailing out hedge funds or helping them in any way runs counter to the best instincts of most citizens, regulators, and law makers. The wealthy do not need a Good Samaritan.
Allowing hedge funds to fail is likely to accelerate and put pressure on whatever forces are in place that are moving down the markets. By some estimates, hedge funds control over $2 trillion. Most of the investments they have made involve some level of leverage. As those investments lose their value in the crisis, hedge funds have few resources to pay back the money which has created that leverage..
According to The Wall Street Journal industry experts are "expecting between 10% and 20% of the hedge-fund industry’s assets to be withdrawn by year end." That means a lot of investments will be sold off, and many of those will be stocks. An equity market recovery could certainly be undermined by that level of liquidation.
Globe and Mail - Black clouds have been building over the hedge fund industry for much of the year, and a storm could break in coming weeks as investors receive their second set of lousy monthly results from funds that are meant to do well in good markets and bad.
A series of challenges, some unrelated to the hedge funds’ investment strategies, have combined to create lower returns and investor redemptions.
Industry experts expect some funds will be forced to close down as clients walk away.
The single biggest problem is performance. The most recent update of Scotia Capital Inc.’s hedge fund index shows the average fund was down 8.6 per cent in July, compared to a 1.74-per-cent decline in the S&P/TSX equity benchmark. Since its inception in 2005, the Scotia Capital hedge fund index averaged a 13.9-per-cent annual gain.