National Post – The Portus Alternative Asset Management Inc. scandal may have put Canada’s fledgling hedge fund industry on the global map last year, but not in a way anyone in the business would have liked.
At hedge fund conferences, one can only imagine the “Hey, how about that Portus?” backslaps Canadian managers must have endured with a smile, much the way reputable gold firms became weary of Bre-X nearly a decade ago. But if you think Portus put an irrevocable stain on the industry, think again. There are many signs alternative investment funds in Canada aren’t just hanging on, many are thriving.
“I think the Portus thing has gotten to the point where it’s such a Gong Show, it has become almost circus-like,” said James McGovern, managing director and chief executive of Arrow Hedge Partners, and chairman of the Canadian arm of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). “People are mildly interested in it … but I think they are taking it with a grain of salt.”
Some of Canada’s best hedge funds report no slowdown in bringing in new capital. Take hedge fund Waterfall Investments, a Toronto-based firm headed by Andrew McCreath, a former portfolio manager and founding shareholder at Synergy Mutual Funds.
