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Forbes – Hedge fund firm RAB Capital said on Wednesday that assets under management fell 32 percent in the six months to June but said clients had started putting money into its single strategy funds since April.
The firm said assets fell to $1.3 billion at end-June from $1.9 billion at end-December, in part due to the sale of its Northwest business. A year ago it ran $5.9 billion.
Reuters UK – Hedge fund firm RAB Capital said on Wednesday that clients had started putting money back into some of its funds helped by a recent upturn in performance, adding to signs the industry may be recovering.
The firm, some of whose funds have been hit by poor performance and illiquid markets during the credit crisis, posted a 32 percent drop in overall assets. However, it said it saw positive net flows into its single strategy funds in the second quarter and into July, excluding the effects of recent disposals.
Stuff – The beleaguered hedge fund industry is rife with talk of consolidation, as dwindling asset bases eat into firms’ profits, with the key barriers likely to be hedge fund managers’ egos and poor rewards for sellers.
Man Group and RAB Capital have both indicated they are in the market for smaller hedge funds, while Cheyne Capital and GLG have separately announced deals in recent months.
Independent – RAB Capital, the troubled London-based hedge fund, yesterday agreed to sell its Asian business as it tries to shore up its finances.
The fund manager, which on top of the general woes affecting the industry has made wrong calls including buying shares in now-nationalised lender Northern Rock, said it was selling the assets and business of its loss-making Northwest brand for £1m to its original owners, at a big book loss. As recently as last June, RAB valued Northwest at £20m. However, the sale will allow the fund manager to save between £3m and £4m in costs annually, and a spokesman said that after tax adjustments the writedown would be closer to £9m.
Northwest’s assets under management, held in three funds, were approximately $300m at the end of December. On a pro-forma basis, the business and assets it is selling generated pretax profit of around £9m in 2007, but analysts believe Northwest may have slipped into the red last year.
