West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net)- Sidley Austin has further expanded its hedge fund practice in London by hiring a new counsel in the Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives practice.

Barry Breen has joined the firm’s London office and will focus his practice on hedge funds and further expand Sidley’s fund capabilities in London. "Barry is a talented and experienced hedge fund lawyer and we are pleased to have him join us to enhance our growing fund capabilities in Europe," said Bruce Gardner, head of the hedge fund practice in London.

Breen will advise clients on the organization of offshore and onshore hedge funds, including master/feeder,fund of funds and side by side investment structures, commodity pools, registered fund of funds and mutual funds, ETFs, and the registration, regulation and governance of registered management investment companies.

"I am thrilled to join a firm with such a respected and renowned global investment funds practice," said Breen. "I look forward to working with Bruce, David and the other partners in the practice to continue to build and strengthen the funds team in London, Europe and globally."

Breen previously was with Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP in the Financial Services, Hedge Funds and Capital Markets practice operating out of their New York and London offices.

Sidley has a international practice in structuring and advising investment funds and advisers. In 2006 and 2007, the Alpha Awards(TM) for hedge fund service providers ranked Sidley as the number one onshore hedge fund law firm. Additionally, in 2008, the firm was named "Investment Funds Team of the Year for the U.S." by Chambers and Partners. In 2007, Sidley also was named Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year by Asian Legal Business. The Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives practice group consists of more than 100 lawyers in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo.

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: alex@hedgeco.net

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Jacksonville, Florida-based Advantage Capital Equity Solutions is set to unveil its new asset based lending hedge fund at the end of this month according to an article published in FINalternatives.

The Advantage Capital Equity Fund II will locate nonperforming assets and purchase them at a discounted rate such as real estate taken over by banks following foreclosures. Since the subprime fallout hit states like Florida and California the hardest, the fund will start focusing on those geographical areas initially.

“We see a bottoming of the real estate market six to 18 months out but that doesn’t really affect us,” said Bob Parsons, Senior Vice President. “As far as California and Florida are concerned, I live in Florida and we’re starting to see some stabilization in pricing in Jacksonville. There’s no bottom in sight yet for high-rise condos in south Florida but we don’t lend on high rises.”

ABL funds are gaining popularity, mostly because they tend to thrive in the current market conditions. Florida and California have record numbers of foreclosures and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The foreclosures left an array of opportunity for investors to purchase the properties far below face value. Other asset based lending hedge funds focus on providing loans to developers who are in a pinch and cannot get quick financing from a bank. The hedge funds then tack on high interest rates and build up their pool of capital. If the borrower fails to pay back the debt, the property is then seized by the hedge fund.

The hedge fund has a $100 million target. It follows the launch of their private equity fund, Advantage Capital Equity Fund I, which was launched in May. The firm is seeking a seed investor for the p.e. fund, hoping to raise $74 million.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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