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 – New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has alleged that an executive of Clinton Group Inc., which once managed $8 billion in assets, knew of kickbacks made to win $750 million in state pension-fund business in 2006.
Cuomo identifies the person only as a “Clinton executive” in documents detailing his investigation of a Clinton joint venture that won the business. In 2006, George Hall, founder of Clinton Group, was president, supervising executives in six divisions, his company Web site shows. The “Clinton executive” is Hall, 49, two people familiar with the matter said.
WNYC – An investigation into corruption at the New York State pension fund has raised questions about the fund’s dealings with Wall Street. Federal and state regulators are examining how the pension fund chooses its private money managers. Last month we reported on the tangled relationships between the pension fund and Wall Street. Today we follow the money. WNYC’s Lisa Chow reports.
REPORTER: It was a Friday morning in May when Tom DiNapoli delivered the bad news.
DINAPOLI: As we are all aware, 2008 was one of the most difficult years in Wall Street history.
Reuters Amsterdam – For Dutch pension fund ABP, Michael Jackson’s death could be good for business.
The passing of the man called "King of Pop" last week has created a run on his music, which is partly owned by Dutch state pension fund ABP. It is the world’s third-largest state pension fund after Japan’s and Norway’s.
"There are always certain songs that for whatever reason, in this case tragic, suddenly become very popular. The last fact is a basis for the investment," an ABP spokesman said.
ABP bought two music catalogues last year, including the rights to some Michael Jackson songs like "You Are Not Alone," according to the website of Imagem Music Group, which manages the music assets for ABP.
New York Times Blogs – The inquiry into corruption at the New York State pension fund started simply enough. Alan G. Hevesi, the former comptroller, was accused of using state workers as chauffeurs for his ailing wife.
But by the time Mr. Hevesi resigned his office in late 2006, investigators for the Albany County district attorney’s office were examining a more troubling problem: allegations that Mr. Hevesi’s associates had sold access to the state’s $122 billion pension fund, using one of the world’s largest pools of assets to reward friends, pay back political favors and reap millions of dollars in cash rewards for themselves, The New York Times’s Danny Hakim and Mary Williams Walsh reported.
Napa Valley Register – The 2009 Festival del Sole will proceed in July as planned despite its founder’s guilty plea to securities fraud.
Hedge fund executive Barrett Wissman has pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud and is cooperating with New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s investigation of corruption at the New York State pension fund, according to numerous news reports.
A Dallas business associate of the Hunt family — the wealthy Texas oil family that owns the Kansas City Chiefs football team
Democrat and Chronicle – The former chairman of the state Liberal Party was accused Wednesday of receiving at least $800,000 from the state pension fund as a kickback for helping elect former Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Hevesi’s son.
Raymond B. Harding, who for decades was the face of the now-defunct party, was charged with multiple felonies in violation of the Martin Act, the state securities-fraud statute, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced.
New York Times – A hedge fund executive has pleaded guilty to securities fraud and is cooperating with New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s investigation of corruption at the state pension fund, according to court records unsealed in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Barrett Wissman, a Dallas business associate of the Hunt family, is the first investment executive to be implicated in the inquiry and will pay $12 million over several years as part of a settlement under his felony plea, people with knowledge of the investigation said.
Boston Globe – The Massachusetts state pension fund fired two money managers yesterday for poor performance, including one that had lost $12 million investing with accused swindler Bernard L. Madoff.
Austin Capital Management, which had managed $170 million in state retirement funds, was fired after it lost $40 million, including the money invested with Madoff and $28 million from market declines. The state withdrew its remaining $130 million from Austin, which runs a "fund of funds," a middleman that takes investors’ capital and spreads it among other money managers, including hedge funds.
Forbes – Following are some of the companies exposed to the alleged $50 billion securities fraud by Wall Street pioneer Bernard Madoff:
* AUSTIN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT – The company managed money for the Massachusetts state pension fund, which lost $12 million with Madoff, the pension fund said.
* BALOISE-Holding AG – The Swiss insurer will have to writedown $13 million after investing in hedge fund Kingate Global, which in turn invested in Madoff’s investment vehicle.
Boston Globe – Massachusetts again has some of the best money managers in the world. But unless you’re a public employee or the parent of a Harvard student, you won’t benefit much from this tremendous talent.
Harvard University’s endowment, already the nation’s largest university endowment, earned 7 to 8 percent over the past year, a period when stock markets tanked and many investment professionals lost substantial sums. Harvard’s performance, first reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a financial industry source briefed on the school’s returns, puts it at the top of an elite group of institutional investors.
Financial firm Northern Trust col lects returns on 87 endowments and foundations but not Harvard. Nevertheless, the Cambridge university’s performance would put it "at the top of the class," said Northern Trust spokesman John O’Connell.
Financial Times- The 10-day-long search for missing hedge fund manager Samuel Israel is entering a critical phase with law enforcement agencies sparing no expense to ensure they "get the body back" before the trail goes cold.
Authorities are now working on the assumption that the body in question will eventually be found alive and in all likelihood in a country with no extradition treaty with the US, meaning Mr Israel could be anywhere from Bahrain to Burundi, Senegal to Syria.
The hunt for Mr Israel began last week when the 48-year-old failed to report to a prison in Massachusetts to begin a 20-year sentence for defrauding investors in the hedge fund Bayou Management out of more than $400m.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net)- William Galvin, Massachusetts’ top securities regulator has charged the hedge fund manager of the River Stream Fund with improperly soliciting investors.
The investigation also turned up a brokerage statement that showed the fund had $1,625 in its account in April. Regan had said he ran $15 million. The regulator said investors who entrusted their savings to Regan feared the money is now lost.
Investigators found River Stream client data thrown into a dumpster near an empty office where Regan said he worked. Wiliam Galvin, whose job includes protecting investors in Massachusetts, has waged aggressive campaigns against anyone caught trying to cheat investors.
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