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.
Reuters – Equity investors are too negative about the hedge fund industry, says Neptune’s Jeremy Smith, who has recently bought shares in Man Group and expects more consolidation among traditional fund firms.
Smith, who manages the 42 million-pound Neptune UK Equity fund, said that while performance of Man’s flagship AHL managed futures strategy has been poor this year, shares in the world’s biggest listed hedge fund firm still look cheap.
”A lot of fund managers have written off the hedge fund industry but from anecdotal evidence it seems a lot of money is being raised” he said at a briefing with reporters late on Wednesday.
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.
Forbes – Russia’s government and central bank must act to lure additional funds into its financial market, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
"The government and central bank should undertake all necessary measures to ensure inflows of additional funds into the financial market," Medvedev told reporters ahead of a meeting of government officials on financial markets.
"The situation on the Russian market today does not reflect the real state of the economy," he said. "Russian remains an attractive place for financial investments."
Russia’s stocks fell more than 5 percent on Wednesday to a fresh two-year low as poor performance prompted redemptions from hedge funds ahead of results, while falling oil prices weighed on future prospects.
The sell-off has seen the benchmark RTS index shed nearly half of its value since mid-March.
Business Day – Private equity firm Actis says equity funds have embraced investing in Africa because many governments have instituted market reforms which are creating opportunities for brave investors willing to take a long-term view on Africa.
“There is increased private equity interest in the continent, illustrated by numerous new (private equity) funds being raised for Africa," Peter Schmid, head of Actis Africa, said yesterday.
His firm recently led a consortium to acquire Alstom South Africa, a big electrical engineering, manufacturing, distribution and contracting business, for R5,16 bn.
Analysts say the lure of emerging markets in countries such as Russia, China and India, and now Africa, has grown stronger after the bruising credit crunch in the US and Europe.
Bloomberg – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he’s “never heard of” Bill Browder, founder of the hedge-fund firm Hermitage Capital Management Inc. who has been barred from Russia since November 2005.
“I never heard of that name before,” Putin said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde transmitted live to journalists in Paris yesterday. “If this person thinks his rights have been violated, let him go to court.”
Browder, 44, a U.S.-born British citizen, is banned from returning to Russia under a law that keeps out people denoted as threatening “the security of the state, public order or public health.” Hermitage, once the largest foreign owner of Russian stocks, said in April it’s a victim of corporate identity theft in Russia.
Putin, who stepped aside as president to become prime minister earlier this month, was queried about Browder’s exclusion at a press conference in St. Petersburg in July 2006. Putin said then he didn’t know who the reporter was talking about and could only presume he must have broken the law.
