Times Online – People who run hedge funds hate the way the press describe them as “secretive”. A quick Google of “hedge funds” shows what a cliche it has become. Hedge funds are “notoriously secretive” and “super-secretive”; they live in a “secretive world”.

But sadly, for an increasing number of them, the secret is finally out.

The promise behind this $2 trillion universe was that its managers would make money whether markets went up or down. But the turmoil in the financial world is proving too much for many of them. All of a sudden the Masters of the Universe are failing fast.

The average hedge fund has lost more than 4% this year, according to Hedge Fund Research, putting the industry on course for its worst year on record. New investments in hedge funds for the first six months of 2008 fell below $30 billion, compared to $118 billion for the same period last year.

The hedge fund manager has become the Gatsby figure of our era. But his fall will be felt by more than Manhattan estate agents, art galleries and Porsche dealers. Over the past decade, the hedge fund industry has grown fivefold, pumped up with billions from corporate and public pension funds and university endowments looking for market-beating returns.

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Altassets – Cleantech-focused venture capital firm RockPort Capital Partners has closed its third fund, RockPort Capital Partners III, on over $450m, the hard cap of the fund. It had an initial target of $400m and held a first closing just three weeks ago, on $400m.

The new fund will continue the focus of RockPort’s previous funds, investing in the development of technology and products in emerging cleantech companies.

The investor base consists of US university endowments, family offices, foundations and institutional investors from both the US and Europe.

Wilber James, managing general partner, RockPort, said, ‘The cleantech sector provides enormous opportunities to identify and foster initiatives that offer solutions to global energy and natural resource needs, while providing superior investment returns. We have already seen how the teams we invest in can create enormous value. Our collaborative approach together with a business-building mentality and keen domain expertise has proven invaluable to growing companies.’

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