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.
The Ledger – The financial crisis may have turned much of Wall Street’s wealth into dross, but a select group of hedge fund managers has managed to maintain a golden touch that might make King Midas blush.
As major markets and economies careened downward last year, 25 top managers reaped a total of $11.6 billion in pay by trading above the pain in the markets, according to an annual ranking of top hedge fund earners by Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine, which comes out Wednesday.
James H. Simons, a former math professor who has made billions year after year for the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, earned $2.5 billion running computer-driven trading strategies. John A. Paulson, who rode to riches by betting against the housing market, came in second with reported gains of $2 billion. And George Soros, also a perennial name on the rich list of secretive moneymakers, pulled in $1.1 billion.
Reuters – Several hedge funds with assets frozen at Lehman Brothers may have been hit by wrong-way bets on Volkswagen, industry executives said, possibly hurting funds on trades they cannot close.
While no money has yet been demanded by the prime brokerage unit of Lehman — which filed for bankruptcy protection in September — a fund using Lehman to short-sell VW may have to pay up next year when administrators have worked out which positions belong to whom.
"Could there be some people who are short Volkswagen and can’t close the trade? Yes, there could be some," said one hedge fund executive who declined to be named, in order to speak candidly.
Bloomberg- John Devaney is liquidating hedge funds at his United Capital Markets Holdings Inc. after failing to meet a margin call from Deutsche Bank AG.
Deutsche Bank seized and auctioned off collateral after the Horizon group of funds failed to meet the bank’s demands, according to a letter to clients obtained by Bloomberg News yesterday. The funds were frozen a year ago because of wrong-way bets on mortgage securities.
“The survival of the funds and any potential recovery for their investors has been dependent on these lenders continuing their relationships with the funds,” Devaney wrote in the letter dated July 9. United Capital is based in Key Biscayne, Florida.
