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.
Interactive Investor – British fund firm Ashmore Group said it expected the fund-raising environment to remain tough in 2009 as clients continue to cash in investments, after it reported first half profits in line with forecasts.
The group, which specialises in managing emerging market funds, said on Tuesday it sees significant opportunities arising from the turmoil that has hit financial markets, though so far this year it has lost money on its investments. The group said pretax profit for the six months to end-December fell to 80.3 million pounds ($116.9 million) from 100.9 million a year before.
Assets under management fell 34 percent to $24.6 billion during the period as the group suffered net outflows of $5.8 billion and investment losses of $7.1 billion.
StreetInsider.com – Former CNBC news anchor Ron Insana reportedly will be leaving Stevie Cohen’s SAC Capital. This move should all but put an end to Insana’s foray into the hedge fund world.
Ron Insana decided to leave SAC Capital only six months after he was hired as managing director, according to the NY Times DealBook. Insana’s last day at the fund will be on February 27th.
Insana came to SAC after the fund-of-hedge-funds firm he launched, Insana Capital, failed after not raising the money he envisioned and not meeting the returns Insana and his investors expected.
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette – During the first six months of 2008, commodities looked to be the savior of investors who were losing money in the stock market. In the second half, particularly for those who had invested in oil, futures contracts were their undoing.
At the start of 2009, commodities have little appeal. Most analysts expect prices to remain under pressure as worldwide demand continues to wane for basic materials of all kinds.
“For commodities to do well, they need demand and they need present demand,” said Matt Zeman, head trader at LaSalle Futures in Chicago. “Until we see the physical demand picking up, we’re going to have a hard time moving forward.”
Bloomberg – Bond dealers and hedge funds that fail to complete trades in Treasury securities face a penalty of as much as 3 percent on the proceeds of transactions, according to a Federal Reserve-backed industry code to be implemented in the next six months.
The plan, which strengthens official oversight of trading, will be unveiled as soon as Jan. 5, said Thomas Wipf, chairman of the Treasury Market Practices Group and the head of institutional securities group financing at Morgan Stanley in New York.
“It seems quite obvious that the Fed and Treasury cannot and will not accept the status quo for much longer,” Wipf said in an interview.
