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Bloomberg – Switzerland is the world’s most attractive financial center for the “mobile wealthy,” beating London, Singapore and New York, according to a new survey by Scorpio Partnership.
The Alpine nation ranks highest for economic and political stability, legal issues, children’s education and infrastructure, the London-based wealth management adviser said. Switzerland placed fifth for tax and immigration, behind Monaco, Singapore, Cayman and Hong Kong.
“To the mobile wealthy, Switzerland is very nearly all things to all people,” said Scorpio Director Stephen Wall. It “has been and will continue to be the biggest beneficiary of moves away from London.”
Forbes – Almost 20 percent of Asia’s hedge funds closed shop since the start of 2008 as a wave of investor redemptions and sharp losses amid the financial crisis took a heavy toll on the region’s once high-flying industry, a new survey said Monday.
At least 129 funds were shuttered in 2008 and 17 more in the first quarter of 2009, a study by London-based AsiaHedge magazine said.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – A survey conducted by Job Search Digest, publishers of Hedge Fund Jobs Digest, revealed a shift in the hedge fund industry. Given the current state of the market, the results tell an interesting story and show that key players in hedge fund careers knew trouble was on the horizon earlier this year.
Some findings of interest are that despite no significant increase in compensation, there was a substantial increase in satisfaction with hedge fund compensation. This indicates that well before Wall Street’s meltdown, hedge fund employees knew the market had shifted. This year’s report reveals that 42% of hedge fund employees are happy with their current level of compensation – up from a mere 25% last year.
The survey also found that pay is not correlating with fund performance. When the fund performs well, employees are paid well – most of the time. The hedge funds reporting this year performed well with the majority reporting more than 10% return (and many reporting over 25% return). firms reporting flat performance (that is, zero return) had the highest average pay.
Although the hedge fund industry is often referred to as a meritocracy, many respondents to the survey indicated their bonus is disconnected from their individual performance and, instead, based on overall firm performance.
Job Searcg Digest also found that people are attracted to hedge fund careers because of a huge potential upside. Last year, dissatisfaction with compensation was primarily driven by the desire for greater upside. Now, with all the nervousness in the market, many hedge fund employees feel lucky simply to still be working in the industry.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.Net 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!
Wealth Bulletin – Nearly 70% of hedge funds don’t have a clear succession planning structure in place, a study by wealth management experts Russ Alan Prince and Hannah Shaw Grove has shown, according to a report in The New York Times.
he survey, which was sponsored by Rothstein Kass, covered 349 US hedge funds in recent months to evaluate how ready players in this lightly regulated industry are to manage top-level changes.
Less than 25% of the respondents admitted to having a smooth transition regime and fewer than 30% said they are equipped to handle the death of a managing partner.
Wealth Bulletin- Money managers at public pension funds have adopted a surprisingly bullish stance on investing in hedge funds despite the turmoil plaguing the alternative investment vehicles, a recent survey by Hedge Fund Manager Week showed, according to a report in The New York Times.
About 50% of the respondents said they already allotted a portion of their capital towards hedge funds. Interestingly, none of them intend to decrease the amount in the next three years, with 41% in fact planning to raise their exposure to hedge funds.
