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.
Telegraph.co.uk – The chatter was that Harbinger, a powerful US hedge fund run by Philip Falcone, has built a small stake in African Minerals and has been talking to London brokers in recent days about picking up more stock. Harbinger declined to comment.
If Harbinger has built a stake in the company, it is not clear what the hedge fund’s intentions are for African Minerals. The group runs a variety of strategies. Sometimes the investment fund acts as a passive, long-only investor. However, Harbinger also has a reputation for being activist and occasionally bids for companies. Last year, for example, Harbinger made a takeover approach for blue-chip satellite services group Inmarsat, which slipped 6.3 to 495.2p.
Mr Falcone is well known in City circles. The trader hit the headlines when it emerged that Harbinger was one of the main hedge funds to have shorted HBOS before the Government orchestrated the bank’s emergency merger with Lloyds, now Lloyds Banking Group.
The Associated Press – College endowments and state pension funds plowed billions of dollars into hedge funds and private-equity investments as a way to balance their stock holdings, and for a time they got supercharged returns.
Those days are over. From Harvard University to the state pension fund of California, officials are watching the value of their alternative investments shrink.
So far, the losses are mostly on paper, but analysts say they could eventually lead to reduced payouts to retirees, higher taxes so state governments can fulfill their promises, or less cash available for colleges to give out financial aid.
Denver Post – College endowments and state pension funds that once plowed billions of dollars into hedge funds and private-equity investments as a way to balance their stock holdings officials are watching the value of their alternative investments shrink.
So far, the losses are mostly on paper, but analysts say they could eventually lead to reduced payouts to retirees, higher taxes so state governments can fulfill their promises, or less cash available for colleges to give out as financial aid.
In recent years, endowments and pensions heaped cash into hedge funds — private investment funds that often use unconventional and risky trading strategies. They also bought into private-equity funds, which make direct investments into private companies or buy them out.
Reuters – The U.S. Labor Department should provide pension plans with guidance on investing in hedge funds and private equity, a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said on Wednesday.
The report found that pension plans are investing more and more in alternate investments like hedge funds, which are traditionally less transparent and riskier.
Available data of mid- to large-size plans show that between 21 and 27 percent invest in hedge funds and more than 40 percent invest in private equity, said the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
Because hedge funds and private equity investments are exempt from federal regulations that generally apply to other pension plan investments, the GAO recommended that the Secretary of Labor provide greater clarity on the differences between safe and unsafe investments.
Reuters – The U.S. Labor Department should provide pension plans with guidance on investing in hedge funds and private equity, a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said on Wednesday.
The report found that pension plans are investing more and more in alternate investments like hedge funds, which are traditionally less transparent and riskier.
Available data of mid- to large-size plans show that between 21 and 27 percent invest in hedge funds and more than 40 percent invest in private equity, said the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
Because hedge funds and private equity investments are exempt from federal regulations that generally apply to other pension plan investments, the GAO recommended that the Secretary of Labor provide greater clarity on the differences between safe and unsafe investments.
The Labor Department said it would consider the feasibility of developing specific guidance. But said guidance may be difficult to develop given the lack of uniformity in describing hedge funds, private equity funds and their investments and operations.
