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.
Bloomberg – Guan Ong, former chief investment officer of South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, is setting up a hedge fund to trade Asian bonds that he forecasts will benefit from a “period of economic uncertainty.”
Blue Rice Investment Management’s BRIM Asian Credit Fund, which will trade the region’s dollar-denominated debt, will target annual returns of 10 percent to 15 percent, Ong, 49, said in an interview yesterday. The fund aims to start with as much as $30 million, including Ong’s own money, in October or November, he said.
Bloomberg – The yen declined to a two-week low versus the euro and weakened against the dollar after Yonhap News said North Korea launched a short-range missile, posing a threat to the region’s security.
South Korea’s won fell for the first time in three days versus the dollar after North Korea said it also “successfully” tested a nuclear weapon underground. The euro approached a four-month high against the dollar before a report that economists say will show German business confidence rose for a second month. The New Zealand dollar fell versus the greenback on concern export revenue will drop after the U.S. increased subsidies for dairy products.
Minyanville.com – While they’re not deviously plotting the demise of the worlds’ most powerful financial institutions, hedge funds are loading up on another popular trade: Cash.
According to the Financial Times, Citigroup estimates hedge funds have recently squirreled away as much as $600 billion in cash, of which $100 billion is held in money market funds -those same money market funds Washington so graciously propped up last week.
With good risk-reward investment opportunities in short supply, hedge funds — paid handsomely to manage risk — are relying heavily on the safety of cash to ride out recent market turmoil. It’s telling that for those whose livelihoods depend on beating the market, the investment du jour is no investment at all.
Reuters HK – Gulf utility stocks should be approached with caution given their need for high capital investment in the next few years and limited pricing power, the manager of the Evolvence MENA Hedge Fund said on Wednesday.
But shares of Gulf banks offer some of the region’s best investment opportunities given high earnings growth and their leverage to booming local economies, said Kamal Fayad, the Dubai-based manager of the $50 million (28 million pounds) fund.
"We are pretty bullish on financials in the region … the spreads are pretty high," he told Reuters in an interview in Hong Kong, where he was attending a hedge fund conference.
"Just look at their results the last couple of years. Their results are increasing by an average of 20 to 30 percent."
Reuters – Hedge fund manager PMA has the capacity to manage as much as $4 billion without curtailing returns given current market opportunities in Asia, its chief executive said in an interview.
The Hong Kong-based firm, which now manages about $2.5 billion, has also seen significant inflows into its funds this year despite the downturn in Asian financial markets, PMA CEO Farhat Malik said.
"The way that the platform is structured at the moment, in terms of capacity, in terms of investment opportunities that we see in the marketplace, we can easily go from $2.5 billion to $4 billion, we feel without sacrificing performance," he told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.
"We’ve had significant inflows from institutional investors outside of Asia," he added.
New York – Hong Kong based hedge fund manager, PCM Capital, has successfully launched it second Fund of Funds (FoF) – PCM Green Power Fund on 1st, April 2008. The fund (Class A) returned 1.34% and 1.10% in the first two months respectively.
The new “Green” fund – with its emphasis on Asia – trades or invests in a number of environmental and alternative energy related sectors including clean energy, water management, waste management, power trading, CO2 derivatives and environmental technologies.
Norman Chan, CIO of PCM Capital, said, “We are launching this product in response to the compelling investment opportunities emerging in the environmental sectors, particularly in Asia. In addition, there is increasing demand from institutional investors for exposure to environmental related investment.”
Norman further added, “The demand reflects growing environmental awareness, attractive upside potential and solid diversification benefits.”
Established in 2006, PCM Capital has two funds under management – PCM Asia Pioneer Fund and PCM Green Power Fund.
For more information, please visit www.pcm-cap.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Matt Cohler, one of the early faces behind the wildly popular Facebook, will join venture capital firm Benchmark Capital. Cohler will assist in locating investment opportunities in web based services and will work with the company’s portfolio businesses, all while continuing to work with Facebook.
“Matt has set his sights extremely high, and at his young age has already helped to fundamentally change the face of the internet,” says Benchmark general partner Peter Fenton. “We could not be more thrilled to add Matt’s talents, relationships and passion to Benchmark.”
Coming on board with Facebook in 2005, Matt joined Forbes’ “Youngest Billionaire” Mark Zuckerberg and enjoyed profits of $150 million last year. Facebook is estimated to be worth as much as $15 billion. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and General Manager of LinkedIn, another social networking site for business professionals.
Benchmark manages approximately $2.8 billion in assets.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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Forbes.com – The UK government is advising China on its private equity industry, with the Treasury passing papers on tax and regulation to Beijing, the Financial Times reported.
The newspaper said the move reflects London’s desire to gain a strategic advantage over the US in China, where private equity groups are eyeing investment opportunities.
‘We have pointed them in the right direction by passing on papers about a range of fiscal and regulation policies for private equity,’ the newspaper quoted a senior Treasury official as saying.
Reuters- Managers of funds of hedge funds are finding good investment opportunities in strategies that fill the gap left by banks hamstrung by the credit crisis, according to S&P Fund Services.
Funds that invest in a basket of hedge funds are increasingly attracted to funds that can lend directly to small and medium-sized businesses, as banks, under pressure from the credit crisis and asset writedowns, leave a growing hole in the market, director of fund research Randal Goldsmith told Reuters.
