Hedgemedia's AltInvestment Global News Round-Up: Federal Reserve recruits BlackRock to manage Bear portfolio

Fri, 28 Mar 2008, 07:24

HedgeWeek

BlackRock has been tapped by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to help manage the USD30bn portfolio of Bear Stearns, which is being acquired by JPMorgan Chase, now for USD1.2bn. This was a huge vote of confidence for chief executive Lawrence Fink, whose firm already manages USD1.4trn in assets.

Hedge fund manager Mukai picks analysts, not stocks for Japan

Fri, 28 Mar 2008, 03:22

Bloomberg

Tadashi Mukai outperformed all his hedge fund rivals in Japan last year by researching analysts, rather than companies. Mukai's USD21 million UMJ Neutro Fund climbed 11 per cent, the biggest return among 13 market-neutral funds, those that don't take directional bets on stock benchmarks, according to data provider AsiaHedge. It gained 2.3 per cent in the first two months of this year as the Topix index slumped 10 per cent.

Hedge funds target London

Fri, 28 Mar 2008, 02:00

FT.com

London has reclaimed some ground in the battle for publicly traded hedge funds. Boussard & Gavaudan, a fund run by two former Goldman Sachs traders, is to list shares on the London Stock Exchange as an adjunct to its primary listing in Amsterdam. B&G is not alone. Marshall Wace, another London-based hedge fund, recently indicated it might go down the same route with its Dutch-quoted Tops fund.

London listing for Amsterdam hedge fund

Fri, 28 Mar 2008, 02:00

FT.com

The first hedge fund to float in Amsterdam plans to add a London listing in a boost for the London Stock Ex-change's efforts to attract so-called alternative fund listings. Boussard & Gavaudan Holding, run by London's Boussard & Gavaudan, is also putting together an innovative share-swap scheme designed to boost the share price by allowing investors to exchange the listed paper for holdings in the offshore fund.

Hedge fund builds stakes in housebuilders

Fri, 28 Mar 2008, 01:02

The Guardian

Cheap mortgages may be getting more and more difficult to come by but housebuilding shares shook off worries about falling demand for new homes yesterday. Instead, investors preferred to concentrate on the possibility of takeovers in the sector. One catalyst for this was the news that the activist hedge fund Toscafund had raised its stake in Redrow from 9.68% to 16.56% and doubled its shareholding in Taylor Wimpey to more than 10%. Redrow rose 25.5p to 314.5p and Taylor added 10.75p to 187p as traders decided Tosca - run by the former banking analyst Martin Hughes - may have spotted hidden value in the sector. Redrow has been tipped as a target for larger rivals such as Taylor or Bellway.

Hedge funds raise profile in US grain business

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 20:47

Reuters

The presence of hedge funds in the US agricultural sector expanded on Thursday with the sale of ConAgra Foods Inc's (CAG.N) grain business to Ospraie, as speculators increasingly tie their futures trades to physical markets. Trade sources said the sale was also a sign of tough times for grain companies which must find ways to protect against wild swings in the futures market and raise extra money for margin calls due to a credit crunch.

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Thu, 20 Mar 2008, 00:05

HedgeWeek

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Currency hedge funds up 1.34% in February, says Parker Index

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 18:42

Nasdaq/Dow Jones

Foreign exchange hedge funds reported an aggregate gain of 1.34% in February, according to the latest reading of the Parker FX Index released Thursday. Year-to-date performance of the index is up 1.13%. Fund-of-funds manager Parker, which tracks the performance of around 80 currency funds, said the median return in February was 1.08%, while returns ranged from +6.80% to -4.94%. Excluding fees and interest, the Parker index was up 0.47% in February.

Man Group lifts assets to USD75bn

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 18:10

Financial News

UK-listed asset manager Man Group has increased its assets under management from USD62bn (EUR39bn) a year ago to USD75bn, reaffirming its status as the world's largest manager of hedge funds and funds of hedge funds. Peter Clarke, Man Group's chief executive, said: "This is a very strong set of results, achieved through a period of significant market turmoil." The firm raised almost USD16bn of new capital for its funds, with some redemptions. Investment gains added more than USD5bn to assets under management.

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Thu, 20 Mar 2008, 16:00

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B&G hedge fund co aims to tackle discount as sector matures

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 16:38

CNN Money/Dow Jones

A listed hedge fund run by Anglo-French manager Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management LP is considering letting shareholders switch into the private version of the fund, highlighting growing pains in the market for exchange-traded alternative investments. The potential move is designed to help narrow a 12% discount between the net asset value per share and the stock price on Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Ltd (BGHL.AE), and comes after a host of listed funds from private-equity and hedge- fund groups have sunk below their initial offer prices.

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Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 16:23

HedgeWeek

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Thu, 20 Mar 2008, 06:03

HedgeWeek

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UK's Augustus relaunches quant currency hedge fund

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 15:46

Reuters

British fund firm Augustus Asset Managers said it has relaunched a quantitative currency hedge fund after changing its computer-driven model following tough conditions for quant funds last year. Many quant funds -- which rely on computer models to make their bets -- suffered badly last August and November after being caught out by a spike in market volatility following the summer's US subprime mortgage meltdown. High-profile funds to be hit included Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) Goldman Sachs Global Alpha Fund, which fell nearly 40 percent for the year according to an investor. Goldman has declined to comment on the fund's performance.

Hedge funds: the return of risk

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 15:45

FT.com

Talk about a high-risk hedge fund and most people assume it is a tautology. This year's sudden collapses of the USD2bn flagship fund of London's Peloton Partners and the USD1bn New York-based Focus Capital, as well as a raft of smaller funds, has done nothing to change that view. But a small group of hedge fund investors actively seeks out the riskiest hedge funds - and believes such funds allow them to chase high returns while avoiding the peril behind the blow-ups of the past 12 months: leverage.

TABB Group launches derivatives research service

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 15:15

HedgeWeek

TABB Group, the international research and advisory firm focused solely on capital markets with offices in New York and London, have announced the launch of TABB Derivatives Service, a research service delivering access to the most current, in-depth, non-biased and highly actionable insight covering the critical business issues and trends confronting firms and professionals trading derivatives.

Founder of fallen hedge fund John Meriwether back in trouble

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 12:04

The Times

John Meriwether, the man behind one of the world's largest hedge fund collapses in the late Nineties, is struggling to keep investors from bailing out on his latest venture. Mr Meriwether is best known as a founder of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), the hedge fund that collapsed in 1998, losing USD4 billion and sparking panic across global financial markets. The debacle led to a Wall Street led bailout and US government hearings on the dangers of hedge funds.

Man Group to beat forecasts despite turmoil

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 11:35

Reuters

Man Group, the world's biggest listed hedge fund firm, said on Thursday it would beat analysts' average profit forecast for the year ended March 31, despite turmoil in financial markets. The group said it had benefited from a bigger-than-expected rise in net performance fee income, as well as a strong performance at its AHL futures business.

Société Générale and orbeo launch SGI - orbeo carbon Index

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 11:03

HedgeWeek

Société Générale Index and orbeo have launched the SGI - orbeo Carbon Credit Index, designed to give institutional investors, asset managers and private banks direct access to the carbon underlying.

European Finance House to provide asset management for partners of 'Shard of Glass'

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 10:59

HedgeWeek

Following the acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in project company London Bridge Quarter by a consortium of institutional Qatari investors, European Finance House has been asked to provide specialist asset management, Shari'ah compliance and advisory services to the founding members of the project consortium.  The consortium comprises EFH'S 66 per cent shareholder, Qatar Islamic Bank, QInvest, Qatar National Bank, Barwa and Sellar Property Group.

Long/shorts, multis lead losers

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 10:55

Euromoney Institutional Investor

Some 50 hedge funds representing USD18.6 billion in assets closed in 2007, with roughly one-third of them pursuing one strategy—long/short equity—while multi-strategy funds accounted for the single largest group of shutdown assets with USD7.3 billion. In contrast, there were 83 HF closures with assets totaling USD35 billion in 2006. According to research by Hedge Fund Daily sister publication Absolute Return magazine, more than half of the 10 biggest shutdowns involved wrong bets on leveraged credit positions, including two Bear Stearns Asset Management structured credit funds and 2007's biggest closure, the Sowood Capital Management's USD3 billion Sowood Alpha Fund.

Hennessee returns legal favour

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 10:33

Euromoney Institutional Investor

Two years after Leanna Piscopo slammed The Hennessee Group with a pregnancy bias suit, the former chief compliance officer of the New York-based fund of hedge funds finds herself on the other side of a legal action. Back then, Piscopo charged that she was allegedly mistreated and forced to leave the firm after Hennessee learned that she had become pregnant from then-marketing director Alex Smith-Ryland. Now, according to a filing in a New York trial court, Hennessee has fired back at Piscopo, claiming that on her way out, she took "trade secrets, confidential material and proprietary information that was the lifeblood" of the firm, including the "commission model" the FOHF uses to calculate rates paid by its clients.

Santander UK fund starts buying banks

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 08:11

Reuters

Santander UK Growth Fund said it has dipped back into buying banks with a slight overweight as they are cheap at a time when liquidity injections by major central banks is helping alleviate short-term cash pressure. Richard Moore, manager of the Santander UK Growth Fund, said in a note he took profit on defensive Vodafone to partly fund the move back into banks. However, he remained interested in the telecoms sector as he had increased his exposure in Cable & Wireless.

Goldman reclaims rescue funds

Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 08:00

FT.com

Goldman Sachs has reclaimed 90 per cent of the USD2bn (GBP1bn) it used to bail-out one of its troubled hedge funds last summer as the investment bank moved to shrink the fund and avoid consolidating it on its balance sheet. Goldman withdrew USD1.8bn from its Global Equity Opportunities fund at the end of February, its first opportunity under a lock-up agreement made when it invested in August, according to people familiar with the quantitative, or computer-driven, fund. It wrote to investors last week to explain its decision but declined to comment yesterday.

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