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.
St. George Daily Spectrum – According to the Center for Responsive Politics, hedge funds and private equity firms donated $2,992,456 to the Obama campaign in the 2008 cycle. Obama, vocal critic of the campaign finance practice known as "bundling," accepted more than $200,000 in bundled contributions from billionaire hedge-fund manager James Torrey, more than $100,000 in bundled contributions from billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Tudor Jones and more than $50,000 in bundled contributions from billionaire hedge-fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin, chief executive officer of Citadel Investment Group in Chicago.
In an extraordinarily candid open letter to Obama, hedge-fund manager Cliff Asness defended his industry from the president’s "backwards and libelous" charges. "Managers have a fiduciary obligation to look after their clients’ money as best they can, not to support the president, nor to oppose him, nor otherwise advance their political views," Asness wrote. He has oversight of some $20 billion at AQR Capital Management, LLC, which is not involved in the Chrysler case.
Reuters – Prominent hedge fund manager Clifford Asness has struck back at the Obama administration, saying hedge funds had the right and responsibility to hold out on last week’s Chrysler LLC restructuring deal.
"Managers have a fiduciary obligation to look after their clients’ money as best they can, not to support the President, nor to oppose him, nor otherwise advance their political views," Asness, who oversees about $20 billion at AQR Capital Management, LLC wrote in an undated letter.
AllAboutAlpha.com – Several pundits have recently pronounced the so-called “hedge fund model” to be dead (or at least “upended“). But is the patient clinically dead, or is it just having an out-of-body experience? After the recent trauma experienced by the sector, hedge fund administrators will likely play a central role in bringing the industry back from the other side.
Hans Hufschmid, the CEO of GlobeOp, one of the world’s biggest hedge fund administrators, recently told the FT that:
“There will be tremendous trading opportunities. We are seeing opportunities that we haven’t seen in our lifetime, just in terms of relative trading let alone directional…
“Convertible bonds are extremely cheap, there are mortgages that are extremely cheap and distressed assets that are extremely cheap. There are lots of opportunities that are ideal for hedge funds to take advantage of.
“Further, hedge funds will face less competition with investment bank proprietary trading desks largely disappearing from the market.”
