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 – Bayswater Asset Management, a computer-driven hedge fund shut down last year after big losses during the credit crisis, has relaunched after revamping its risk management controls, its new backers said on Wednesday.
San Francisco-based Bayswater had initially been backed at its launch in 2004 with $25 million (15 million pounds) from Man Global Strategies, part of hedge fund giant Man Group.
However, its strategy of trying to exploit inefficiencies in global markets lost 12 percent in the six months to September 2007 and it returned money to investors after being caught out by a vicious circle of deleveraging in July and August that hit many computer-driven funds.
Dallas Morning News – There are 200 hedge funds in this area, putting the Dallas area third behind only New York and San Francisco in the number of hedgies. Most have offices in the Crescent, Preston Center and in Plano.
Hedge funds – a kind of mutant mutual fund for the wealthy – have been blamed for much of what ails Western Civilization, but make no mistake, they remain one of Dallas’ most thriving industries that no one ever heard of.
Ed Easterling, senior fellow of the alternative investments center at SMU’s Cox School of Business and a hedge fund manager himself, said the average hedge fund dropped just over 20 percent last year. The total assets in the Dallas funds dropped from a high of about $30 billion to about $20 billion today.
Bloomberg – Pandora Media Inc., the free online- radio service that generates playlists based on users’ musical preferences, aims to be profitable next year for the first time since the company started in 2000, founder Tim Westergren said.
Revenue may double this year to about $40 million, Westergren, 43, said in an interview yesterday in San Francisco. The advertising-supported service has 27 million registered users and is adding members at 50,000 to 60,000 a day, faster than in previous years, he said.
Bloomberg – Children’s Investment Fund Management UK LLP, the London-based hedge fund founded by Christopher Cooper-Hohn, sold off its shares in Mastercard Inc. and added shares of rival credit-card network Visa Inc. in the fourth quarter.
Children’s sold its 5.95 million shares, valued at $963 million on Sept. 30, of Mastercard, based in Purchase, New York. The fund bought 4.7 million shares in San Francisco-based Visa, increasing the value of its stake to $589 million as of Dec. 31, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) -Hedge fund admin provider, Variman LLC, and Hedge Funds Care are working together offering discounted monthly service fees to emerging hedge fund managers who donate the standard set-up fee to Hedge Funds Care on behalf of Variman LLC.
"Given the difficult times our industry is currently facing, Variman Fund Services is making an effort to support both the needs of the marketplace and those of abused children, we believe this initiative will be worthwhile and bring solid value to all involved." Variman said
Hedge Funds Care was established in 1998, Hedge Funds Care has distributed over $18 million through more than 500 grants. In 2009, annual benefits will take place in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Toronto, London and the Cayman Islands. Variman LLC is headquartered in Short Hills, NJ, USA with offices in Dubai and India.
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!
CNET News – I’ve blogged about Marketcetera before, a cool open-source hedge fund trading platform. Later this week I’ll be posting an update after I interview the Marketcetera team, but keep bumping into stories that make me wish the interview were today, not Thursday.
For example, Businessweek recently offered up an opinion piece from a San Francisco-based hedge fund trader, who argued for an open-source trading platform:
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – President and Chairman of Hedge Funds Care (HFC), John Budzyna, will preside over the Closing Bell to mark the 11th Annual New York Open Your Heart to the Children Benefit to be held at Cipriani 42nd Street on February 11, 2009.
Hedge fund industry professionals established HFC, a charitable organisation focused on assisting young victims of abuse, in 1998. Since that time, chapters have opened in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Toronto, Cayman, and most recently in London.
The organisation comprises those companies with interests in hedge funds, including investment managers, investors, prime brokers, attorneys, accountants, administrators and information providers.
Reuters – Officials from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank on Sunday vowed to fight the damaging effects of deflation as the global economy suffers a deep and lengthy recession.
In just a few months, central bankers’ concerns have flipped from fighting inflation to staving off possible deflation — a condition in which falling prices cause consumers and businesses to delay purchases, resulting in an even steeper economic downturn.
Both Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, and Lucas Papademos, vice president of the ECB, highlighted the risks of deflation at the annual meeting of the American Economics Association.
