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Bloomberg – Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, the New York-based hedge-fund manager that went public last year, eliminated at least 10 jobs in Asia, including partner Raaj Shah, said two people familiar with the matter.
The cuts made last week, out of a global workforce of about 460, included employees in the firm’s credit and distressed- investment units, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t publicly announced.
“We have made some minor reductions in Asia, and we remain committed to the region,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement. Hong Kong-based Shah referred calls to the company.
Citadel Investment Group LLC, the Chicago-based firm run by Kenneth Griffin, and New York-based Ramius LLC have also laid off staff in Asia as hedge funds suffer their biggest annual loss and highest investor withdrawals since at least 1990. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index declined 23 percent this year through Dec. 5 amid a global credit squeeze and a more than 40 percent decline in the MSCI World Index.
Financial-Planning.com – The fate of many a hedge fund relies on what investors decide to do with their money on Nov. 15, when it is possible an overwhelming majority could ask for their money back by the end of the year, Dow Jones reports.
If there is a rush to the exits, that could send the Dow Jones Industrial Average and equities, as well as other markets-including credit, commodities, foreign exchange and foreign stock markets-spiraling even further downward.
Hedge funds that give investors until Nov. 15 to notify them if they want their money back include Citadel Investment Group and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group. Others have deadlines of Nov. 26 or Nov. 30.
Bloomberg – Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC will invest as much as $500 million in projects that bury greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and create tradable emissions credits.
Och-Ziff, the hedge-fund firm run by Daniel Och, also bought 10 percent of the emission credit company Blue Source LLC, chief executive officer Bill Townsend said. Townsend wouldn’t disclose the value of the deal, which closed Aug. 14.
Emissions credits from projects that reduce global warming gases are voluntarily traded in the U.S. by companies and others seeking to enhance their environmental image. Congress is debating legislation that would mandate reductions in greenhouse gases and create a market for emissions credits that utilities and large manufacturers would need to meet pollution targets.
“To us, it’s pretty dramatic,” Townsend said in an interview yesterday. “We think that this will probably fund us for the next three years of investments.”
CNN Money- A listed fund of hedge funds operated by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has lifted its assets by about 25% by raising an additional $ 221.3 million on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities Ltd. (GSDO.LN), which invests in 20 hedge funds run by managers including New York’s Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC and London’s The Children’s Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP, now manages about $840.2 million, making it the second-largest fund of hedge funds trading in London.
Investors have been scooping up shares in listed funds of hedge funds as a way to diversify from traditional stocks and try to preserve capital in turbulent markets. Funds of hedge funds have historically posted flat returns in years when stock markets suffered sharp declines.
