Melhores práticas

Duo to draw up best practice for hedge funds

By Anuj Gangahar in New York

FT.com

Two of the highest profile figures in asset management were on Tuesday appointed to spearhead the drawing up of guidelines for best practices for hedge funds.

The appointments, by the president's working group on financial markets, are part of efforts by Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, to formulate a private sector-led response to concerns about the activities of hedge funds and avoid potentially draconian regulations.

Russell Read, chief investment officer of Calpers, regarded as one of the most influential jobs in US capital markets, will chair a committee of investors, while Eric Mindich, the chief executive officer of hedge fund Eton Park, will chair an asset managers' committee.

The investors committee will include representatives from labour organisations, endowments, foundations, corporate and public pension funds and investment consultants.

Other members of the committees will include Daniel Och, head of Och Ziff Capital Management, William von Mueffling, the former star Lazard hedge fund manager who now runs Cantillon Capital, and James Chanos of Kynikos Associates.

The question of how best to regulate hedge funds has dogged US regulators for years.

A law requiring funds to register with the US Securities and Exchange Commission was thrown out by the courts, and politicians have debated various proposals as to the best ways to oversee the industry.

Mr Paulson launched a review of the US financial regulatory structure in June, and said the government would release a blueprint for its overhaul by early next year.

On Tuesday the president's working group was encouraging market participants "to move beyond the status quo" as they worked to strengthen market discipline.

Hedge funds have featured heavily during the recent market turmoil as many were accused of adding to volatility.

Anxiety among investors seems to centre on the lack of transparency of hedge funds' trading positions. Many hedge funds move in and out of positions extremely quickly, often using computer programmes and trading algorithms, making it difficult for investors to track their money.

Quantitative hedge funds were among the worst affected at the height of market volatility in August, although many have since recovered losses.

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

Performance do Man Group

Man emerges unscathed from turmoil

By James Mackintosh in London

Published: September 25 2007 08:37 | Last updated: September 25 2007 18:10

Man Group came through this summer's market turmoil almost unscathed as the listed hedge fund manager increased sales and fees and predicted a 10 per cent rise in earnings for its first half.

Man reported assets under management of $68bn, up by $1bn since the end of June in spite of poor performance across its suite of funds.

The results are likely to calm concerns that investors might flee hedge funds in the wake of high-profile disasters, including the collapse of two Bear Stearns funds and heavy losses at several Goldman Sachs quantitative funds.

Peter Clarke, chief executive, said: "These results demonstrate the resilience of Man's business."

Man's shares rose 11½p, or 2.2 per cent, to 534½p.

It saw a small increase in redemptions from its funds by private investors to $1.1bn during the three months that will end on September 30 compared with $1bn in the previous quarter, while withdrawals by institutional investors fell.

Many analysts had been concerned that the credit squeeze and the high-profile failures of some hedge funds could prompt redemptions, or a slowdown of sales – neither of which happened.

Sales of $7.8bn in the six months to September 30 were split almost equally between the two quarters, although there was a big pick-up in sales of products carrying a guarantee as volatility increased.

Rupak Ghose, analyst at Credit Suisse, said the recovery in equity markets should help Man's sales.

"Markets have bounced and sentiment has bounced and that should help them with asset-raising," he said.

Mr Clarke, responding to a question posted on the company's website, said Man's funds had been able to maintain access to credit lines from investment banks and that none of its structured funds had to cut back gearing.

He said equity markets "appear to be somewhat calmer, although there is still behind that a sense of caution, perhaps even danger, in the air".

Man's main AHL division, which uses computers to spot trends in futures markets, fell sharply at the end of July and was down even more in August, but has staged a partial recovery this month.

Man predicted net management fees for the six months would be up more than 15 per cent on the $452m of the same period last year.

It said it still planned to return $2.8bn, or $1.40 per share, to shareholders in cash before the end of December.

 

Doomsday

Artigo sobre a possibilidade de uma nova crise em hedge funds.

Saída lucrativa

A injeção de recursos no Global Equity Opportunities foi bastante lucrativa, como se pode ver neste artigo.

Professores embarcam em Hedge Funds

O interesse não se restringe aos alunos de Finanças, como explica este artigo.

Olhando para frente...

Possíveis implicações para a indústria de hedge funds, segundo a Institutional Investor:

 

What Lies Ahead For HF Industry

 

Source: Hedge Fund Daily

 

With the summer of hedge fund discontent coming to a close, The Wall Street Journal has looked into its crystal ball to see what lies ahead for the battered industry. One does not need to be a fortune teller to surmise there has been substantial pain and suffering, but less clear are the new contours that will shape the industry in the short term. Simply put, according to The WSJ, volatility will be hot, big names and activist funds will not. The paper reports that hedge funds such as Titan Capital Group will see colossal results from its bets on rising volatility. Returns at the hedge fund rose 10% in the past three months, says The WSJ, citing a source close to the firm, as investors are expressing growing interest. In addition, distressed-debt specialists such as Eton Park Capital Management and Citadel Investment Management, are likely winners, as hedge funds in this area, The WSJ reports, “could see the best opportunities in years,” though junk-bond traders says it’s not bargain-basement time yet. Other trends to look for:

--Asia-focused and emerging-market funds could replace the object of investors’ affections as U.S. and European markets continue to be disappointing. One success in that arena: the GLG Emerging Markets Fund, up 9% in July and 24% year to date,

--Quantitative hedge funds, after blistering criticism for their ability to rise above market problems, will make a comeback. The turnaround is already happening, notes The WSJ, as two of Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies turned early August losses to positive growth by the end of the month.

--The failures of big-name funds will likely prompt investors to look for outstanding performance elsewhere, such as successful, smaller hedge funds. Funds of hedge funds, which also suffered in August, says The WSJ, could continue to struggle as their performance could make diversification not as attractive, especially as the top performing hedge funds offer a wide range of strategies anyway.

--Only activist hedge funds with expertise in turnarounds are likely to flourish.

 

Momento Minsky

Explicação interessante do “Momento Minsky”.

Professores embarcam em Hedge Funds

O interesse não se restringe aos alunos de Finanças, como explica este artigo.

Spam: Distressed

Artigo do FT.

Cheap bank loans offer new opportunities

By James Mackintosh in London

Published: September 5 2007 22:11 | Last updated: September 5 2007 22:11

Hedge funds, private equity groups and investment banks are pitching a new concept to investors: rather than panicking about the chaos in the debt markets, put more money in to snap up corporate loans on the cheap and wait out the crisis.

New funds are being put together in London, New York and California by groups including GLG Partners, Oaktree Capital, Blue Mountain Capital and Amida Capital, as well as several big investment banks. Many others – including Cheyne Capital and CQS in London – are canvassing investors to gauge interest in putting money into specialist vehicles to buy up debt they believe has been irrationally marked down in the credit crunch.