Daily News back issues from June 2008:
HFA Event Helps Out Hedge Funds Care
Jun 02, 2008; ... CHICAGO (HedgeWorld.com) - At the first-ever Hedge FundAssociation Reception last month, the HFA and Caledonian Global FundServices raised $3,511 on behalf of Hedge Funds Care, a non-profitorganization dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect. Around 100 people attended the ...
Taser Shareholders Allege Stock Manipulation
Jun 02, 2008; ... ATLANTA (HedgeWorld.com) - Forty-three investors who own stock inTaser International Inc., the Arizona-based manufacturer of thehandheld electroshock weapon, have filed a lawsuit in a state courtin Georgia against eight Wall Street brokerage firms, alleging thatthese firms have violated ...
Creditors Side with Delphi in Appaloosa Fight
Jun 02, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Creditors of Delphi Corp., a bankruptauto parts maker, are seeking the right to intervene in litigationDelphi has brought against hedge fund Appaloosa Management LP, whichin April refused to participate in a closing that would have led toDelphi's ...
Laurus-Valens Adds Advisory Board, Yen Fund
Jun 02, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Laurus-Valens, an asset managementfirm with about $1.7 billion under management, announced that R.Glenn Hubbard and John L. Douglas have joined its new advisoryboard. Mr. Hubbard has been the dean of Columbia Business School since2004, and a member of ...
Swiss Watchdog Gives Nod to AIG/Sarasin Bank Launch
Jun 02, 2008; ... ZURICH, Switzerland (HedgeWorld.com) - The Swiss Federal BankingCommission has awarded a banking license to bank zweiplus ltd. Thenew bank is described as a "joint enterprise" between Bank Sarasin &Cie, a Swiss private bank, and AIG Private Bank. Founded in 1841, Bank Sarasin, ...
Wood Creek-SageCrest Redemption Dispute Heads to Court
Jun 02, 2008; ... NEW HAVEN, Conn. (HedgeWorld.com) - The credit crunch thatsurfaced in the summer of 2007 may be old news at this point, butits effect continues to ripple across the hedge fund universe. Lastweek Wood Creek Capital Management LLC filed a lawsuit againstSageCrest II LLC, a fund focused on ...
BarCap Balance Sheet Bolsters Prime Brokerage
Jun 03, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Just one year ago credit was relativelyabundant on reasonable terms and few hedge funds worried about thesolvency of their counterparties, let alone whether their primerbroker would remain creditworthy or continue to lend. That all changed with Bear ...
Proxy Briefs
Jun 03, 2008; ... One Water Asset Nominee on Insituform Board CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (HedgeWorld.com) - Insituform TechnologiesInc., a provider of rehabilitation and repair services for water,sewer and other underground piping, announced the election of one ofthe five nominees of New York hedge fund ...
A Matter of Free Speech
Jun 03, 2008; ... Book Review Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story,by David Einhorn, John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, N.J., 2008, 356pp., $29.95. It all started six years ago at the Ira W. Sohn conference, theannual hedge fund and charity event where the world's ...
Significance of CSX Showdown Sinking In
Jun 03, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - The world of investors is only justnow awakening to the significance of the issue upon which a districtcourt judge in Manhattan now deliberates, in a case arising from thecash-settled total return equity swaps contracts referencing CSXCorp. shares - and the ...
Lehman Seeking Overseas Capital, Eyes Korea: Report
Jun 04, 2008; ... SEOUL (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking toraise capital overseas and has approached at least one investor inSouth Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday [June 4]. Lehman shares rose about 85 cents, or 2.8%, to $31.49 in morningtrading on the New York ...
Goldman: Hedge Funds Short Financials
Jun 04, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - A new report from Goldman Sachs GroupInc. found that hedge funds are net short financial stocks, whichwas to be expected as losses and asset write-downs continue to taketheir toll on banks this year. What's notable though is that hedgefunds were still overly ...
B&G Confirms LSE Listing, Sterling Share Classes
Jun 04, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - An Amsterdam-listed closed-end hedgefund run by Boussard & Gavaudan Asset Management LP is to liststerling and euro share classes on the London Stock Exchange and adda sterling share class to the existing euro one in the Netherlandsin a bid to attract new ...
Pluscios Recognized as Women's Business Enterprise
Jun 04, 2008; ... EVANSTON, Ill. (HedgeWorld.com) - Alternative asset solutionsprovider Pluscios Management LLC announced Monday [June 2] that ithas received certification as a Women's Business Enterprise from theWomen's Business Enterprise National Council. Pluscios, co-foundedby principals Kelly Chesney ...
Millionaires Again Less Bearish than Affluent: Spectrem
Jun 04, 2008; ... CHICAGO (HedgeWorld.com) - Respondents to the Spectrem Group'ssurveys in May returned to normalcy in one respect, after ananomalous showing in April. Once again, the narrower millionaires'families segment of the population indicated that it is more bullish(or, rather, less bearish) than ...
Thompson Defendants Say SEC Doesn't Know VIX
Jun 05, 2008; ... SALT LAKE CITY (HedgeWorld.com) - Three months after theSecurities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement actionagainst hedge fund manager Thompson Consulting Inc. and variousrelated people and entities, the defendants have responded. A studyof the court file gives a good idea of ...
Lehman Not an Easy Short Story
Jun 05, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. thisweek is at the center of a battle between shareholders and shortsellers over which of the two camps is right about the firm'sfuture. Investor anxiety about Lehman culminated on Tuesday [June 3] withgrowing certainty ...
Carne Global Establishes Swiss Ops
Jun 05, 2008; ... GENEVA (HedgeWorld.com) - Independent fund management consultantCarne Global Financial Services is opening an office in Geneva tocapitalize on the country's position as a leading wealth managementlocation. The firm already has offices in London; Dublin, Ireland;and ...
'Big Three' Credit Raters Reach Accord with NY AG
Jun 05, 2008; ... ALBANY, N.Y. (HedgeWorld.com) - New York Attorney General AndrewM. Cuomo on Thursday [June 5] announced a deal with the nation'sthree principal credit rating agencies intended to produce afundamental restructuring of the market for residential mortgage-backed securities. The ...
Technology Briefs
Jun 05, 2008; ... ConvergEx Launches Dark Desk NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - BNY ConvergEx Group LLC has launcheda trading desk that will provide complete coverage of all major darkliquidity pools to buy-side clients. The ConvergEx Dark Desk willinclude information on non-displayed liquidity and ...
People Briefs
Jun 05, 2008; ... Jeffery Joins SuperDerivatives LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - SuperDerivatives has appointed JackJeffery as chief operations officer. He joins from ICAP Electronic Broking where he was chiefexecutive. Mr. Jeffery has also been a member of the Bank of EnglandJoint Standing ...
Man Group Buys into Nephila
Jun 06, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Man Group plc, the world's biggestabsolute return funds operator, is to pay $50 million for a 25%interest in Nephila Capital Ltd., an investment manager thatspecializes in the reinsurance industry and is based in Bermuda. Nephila employs 25 staff and ...
Timminco Ltd. Seeks Damages from Shorts
Jun 06, 2008; ... TORONTO (HedgeWorld.com) - In the latest lawsuit within the blame-the-shorts genre, Timminco Ltd. has filed a complaint with theOntario Superior Court of Justice seeking more than C$6 million($5.9 million) in damages from Toronto-based hedge fund managerLawrence Asset Management Inc. and ...
ARK Gala Raises More than 25 Million
Jun 06, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - The credit crunch may be dominatingtrading room tactics and creasing the brows of hedge fund portfoliomanagers, but it has failed to dent the world's biggest charitydinner, which Thursday night [June 5] raised 25.5 million ($50million) to go to Absolute Return ...
Toscafund Ups Aberdeen Stake to More than 25%
Jun 06, 2008; ... LONDON (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Toscafund has raised itsstake in Aberdeen Asset Management by around another 50 millionpounds ($97.89 million) to more than 25%, continuing its rapid stake-building of recent months. Toscafund, which is run by Martin Hughes, increased its ...
Dexion Capital Eyes Further Listed Fund Launches
Jun 06, 2008; ... LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge fund consultant Dexion Capital plans twolisted investment fund launches over the next year, with alternativeassets such as infrastructure and areas hit by market falls such ashigh-yield debt being considered. With global financial markets having experienced ...
Bristol-Myers Takes a Hit, Others Delay It
Jun 06, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - The full effect of this winter'sfreeze-up in the market for auction-rate securities has not yet beenabsorbed by the corporate holders of such instruments, according toa report issued by a prominent valuation firm. The largest write-down among the ...
Carried Interest Debate Carried to Albany
Jun 09, 2008; ... ALBANY, N.Y. (HedgeWorld.com) - A bill newly introduced into theNew York state legislature that would pave the way for city taxationof carried interest via unincorporated businesses is the work ofMicah Z. Kellner, the assemblyman who represents the east side ofManhattan. Mr ....
Lehman Reports Loss, Raises $6 billion
Jun 09, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.announced its first-ever quarterly loss on Monday [June 9] and israising $6 billion in equity to bolster its balance sheet. The bank announced a preliminary $2.8 billion loss for the secondquarter ended May 31 - a sharp ...
Brown Rudnick Creates Cleantech Team
Jun 09, 2008; ... HARTFORD, Conn. (HedgeWorld.com) - International law firm BrownRudnick LLP has established an international Cleantech Team totackle legal issues and business opportunities involving companiesand investors in the clean technology sector. "Government regulation promotes [clean] ...
PSource Debt Fund Doubles AUM
Jun 09, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - PSource Structured Debt Ltd., a listedfund investing in senior secured debt and equity warrantspredominantly issued by North American-based, small-cap companieshas raised 26 million ($50 million) through a share placing, nearlydoubling its assets under ...
ICAP Launches LIBOR Alternative
Jun 10, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - ICAP plc, a London inter-dealerbroker, announced that it will launch on Wednesday [June 11] itsU.S. alternative to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).Called NYFR Fixings and originally planned to debut last month, thenew index is a survey-based measure ...
China Raises Reserve Requirements; Shanghai, Shenzen Slump
Jun 10, 2008; ... SHANGHAI, China (HedgeWorld.com) - If anyone had any doubts howChina's investors would react to the People's Bank of China's 100-basis-point increase in reserve requirement ratio during the longweekend, those doubts were quickly swept away when trading reopenedon Tuesday [June 10]. By ...
Bayou Convict Israel Missing
Jun 10, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - An abandoned automobile belonging toconvicted felon and former hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III wasdiscovered in early Monday afternoon [June 9] on the Bear MountainBridge, in the lower Hudson Valley. Mr. Israel failed to report to prison authorities ...
Cayman Monetary Authority Releases HF Stats
Jun 10, 2008; ... GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands (HedgeWorld.com) - The CaymanIslands Monetary Authority has released a first-time compilation ofdata about more than 5,000 hedge funds regulated there. In its "Investments Statistical Digest," the authority shows thatas of the end of 2006, the gross ...
Manager Vows to Beat Hedge Fund Returns for Less
Jun 10, 2008; ... BOSTON (Reuters) - Jerome Abernathy has a proposition for theworld's biggest pension funds - better returns than hedge fundswithout the headaches or heavy costs. This may sound too good to be true to institutional investors,who have poured billions of dollars into the loosely ...
First Coverage Sorts Buy-Side Info Flow
Jun 10, 2008; ... BOSTON (HedgeWorld.com) - Web-based software company FirstCoverage Inc. on Tuesday [June 10] released Version 2.0 of its web-based platform that helps portfolio managers gather, control andevaluate information coming to them from the sell side. Randy Cass, chief executive of First ...
Risk Tolerance Creeps Up, Concerns Remain
Jun 10, 2008; ... BASEL, Switzerland (HedgeWorld.com) - Investors may be over theworst of the "disorderly de-leveraging" which began in mid-2007 andintensified from the end of February to mid-March as the BearStearns crisis played out, according to the Quarterly Review fromthe Bank for International ...
Tudor Adds Two Top Bear Stearns Alumni
Jun 10, 2008; ... GREENWICH, Conn. (HedgeWorld.com) - Tudor Investment Corp., theGreenwich-based firm founded by Paul Tudor Jones II, announced onTuesday [June 10] that Gregory Hanley and Alan Mintz, the two formerco-heads of Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.'s distressed group, are joiningthe $18 billion hedge fund ...
Toscafund Stock Positions Incur Sharp Losses
Jun 11, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Toscafund Asset Management LLP, aBritish hedge fund manager that specializes in financial stocks, isfacing substantial losses in parts of its investment portfolio. Rumors swept through investment bank trading desks in the Cityand among Mayfair hedge funds ...
Moody's Moots Whamming WaMu's Credit Card ABS
Jun 11, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - In a little-discussed release fromMonday [June 9] Moody's Investors Service said it had placed underreview for possible downgrade the ratings on 32 classes of creditcard receivables-backed securities issued by Washington Mutual Inc.,one of the leading mortgage ...
Gartmore Short India, Sees Hedge Fund Rebound
Jun 11, 2008; ... LONDON (Reuters) - Gartmore head of global emerging markets ChrisPalmer is net short Indian stocks and is concerned about governmentinterference in private enterprise and a lack of financing forgrowing firms, he told Reuters on Wednesday [June 11]. Mr. Palmer, who manages a range ...
UBS Faces Battle in Selling Off Risky Assets
Jun 11, 2008; ... LONDON (Reuters) - Switzerland's UBS AG is facing a hard sell asit aims to hive off more of the mortgage-backed assets that havegravely hurt its business, because of the poor quality of theportfolio. Other victims of the global crisis - such as U.S. investment bankLehman Brothers ...
SEC Acts on Ratings Agencies and 'Symbology'
Jun 11, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (HedgeWorld.com) - The Securities and ExchangeCommission has approved of two portions of a proposed reform of theregulations that govern credit rating agencies, especially in thecontext of structured finance and in the unflattering light shed onthe value of ratings by the ...
AIMA Urges Retail Access to Funds of Hedge Funds
Jun 12, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - The Alternative Investment ManagementAssociation has urged the U.K. Financial Services Authority to allowfunds of hedge funds to be made available to retail investors. The move comes as a formal response to the FSA's consultation onthe matter. AIMA has ...
Citigroup to Shut Hedge Fund Co-founded by CEO: Report
Jun 12, 2008; ... NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a blow to Citigroup Inc. Chief ExecutiveVikram Pandit, the bank plans to close a hedge fund he co-foundedand will buy what is left of its assets, the Wall Street Journalreported on Thursday [June 12]. Last month, Citi said it was looking at restructuring Old ...
Brevan Howard Fund Joins FTSE 250 Index
Jun 12, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - In a further sign of the advance ofinstitutional investors in the hedge fund sector, BH Macro Ltd.,the London Stock Exchange-listed feeder fund to Brevan Howard'sglobal macro fund, joined the FTSE 250 Index of mid-cap Britishcompanies. BH Macro's ...
Lehman Brothers Demotes CFO Callan, Names New COO
Jun 12, 2008; ... NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said onThursday [June 21] that it demoted its chief financial officer, ErinCallan, and that it had named a new chief operating officer, daysafter the investment bank said it expects to post a $2.8 billionquarterly loss. Lehman, ...
Hedge Funds Stay Afloat in May
Jun 12, 2008; ... CHICAGO (HedgeWorld.com) - Hedge funds in the Greenwich GlobalHedge Fund Index pushed their way out of the red last month, gaining2.01%, while the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index was up 1.9%.Furthermore, five of the six strategies tracked by the Dow JonesHedge Fund Indexes posted ...
Ermitage Starts Clean Resources Fund
Jun 12, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Ermitage Group, a fund of hedge fundsspecialist, has launched a new multi-manager fund with $20 millionto glean absolute returns from clean resources. The Ermitage Clean Resources Fund is operating alongside theErmitage Resources Fund and will seek to ...
People Briefs
Jun 12, 2008; ... AbCap Ads Investment Managers LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Absolute Capital Managements HoldingsLtd. has sought to turn the corner on a 10-month crisis with theappointment of two investment managers. The appointments are thefirst on the portfolio management side since disgraced former ...
Dan Joining MF Global
Jun 12, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - MF Global Ltd., a leading broker ofexchange-listed futures and options, announced the appointment ofBernard Dan as chief operating officer for its North Americanbusinesses. Mr. Dan, who also joins the company's global executive managementcommittee, was ...
EIP Seeks Profit Pairing Hedge, Index funds
Jun 13, 2008; ... HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager islooking to triple its assets through a rare marriage of passive andalternative investing, creating market tracking index funds it canuse to source stock for complex trades. Enhanced Investment Products Ltd., which manages ...
SunGard: Too Much FX for Banks to Process
Jun 13, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Foreign exchange trading volume is onthe rise and likely to increase tenfold over the next three years,according to SunGard Data Systems Inc., which has released a whitepaper on this growth. Trading volumes just doubled in the first quarter of 2008 ....
U.K. FSA Moves on Short Sellers
Jun 13, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Britain's Financial Services Authorityhas ruled that major short sellers taking advantage of companiesissuing rights will have to disclose those positions. It has alsobegun a review of the mechanics of the capital-raising process witha view to making it more ...
ABL FOF Sees No Rise in Non-Real Estate NPLs
Jun 13, 2008; ... GENEVA (HedgeWorld.com) - Despite the lingering credit crunch,one Geneva-based fund continues to find investment opportunities inasset-based lending, though the managers said they plan to keep riskon a short leash. Nara Capital is an independent Swiss Fund Advisor specializing ...
Ante Up, Hedge Fund Pros
Jun 16, 2008; ... CHICAGO (HedgeWorld.com) - Hedge fund professionals will take abreak from betting on market moves and try their hands at pokerduring Hedge Funds Care's third annual No Limit Texas Hold'emTournament in Chicago June 26. Hedge Funds Care is an alliance ofhedge fund professionals dedicated ...
Nikko AM Expands to Iberia
Jun 16, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Nikko Asset Management Europe Ltd., theLondon office of the Japanese asset management house, is close tofinalizing an exclusive distribution relationship for the Iberianmarket with Capital Strategies Partners A.V., SA (CSP), anindependent marketing and ...
Infiniti Finds New Fund Managers Try Harder
Jun 16, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - In a recent study Infiniti Capitalfound that emerging hedge fund managers outperformed their moreestablished counterparts by as much as 4% annually. Using figures from the HedgeFund.Net database, Infiniti officialsanalyzed the performance of 8,035 hedge ...
Prisma Finds 40 Managers Optimal for FOFs
Jun 16, 2008; ... JERSEY CITY, N.J. (HedgeWorld.com) - The answer to the questionof how many hedge fund managers should be in a fund of fundsportfolio has been the Holy Grail for the fund of funds industry. Ifa fund of funds manager's goal is to both outperform a hypotheticalbenchmark and generate the ...
Hedge Investors Hunt for Next Blockbuster Strategy
Jun 16, 2008; ... LONDON (Reuters) - Top hedge fund bosses will debate whether anupturn in distressed investing or profitable macro strategies offer2008's blockbuster trade, as being short subprime was in 2007, whenthey meet in Monaco this week. GAIM International 2008, held from June 17-19 in ...
May Brings 2% Gain for CS/Tremont Index
Jun 16, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - May was the best month of the year sofar for hedge funds in the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index,which increased 2% last month as markets continued to stabilize andmany managers worked themselves out of the hole they'd dug earlierin the ...
Korean Broker Woori To Open Singapore Hedge Fund
Jun 17, 2008; ... SINGAPORE (Reuters) - South Korean broker Woori Investment &Securities said on Tuesday [June 17] it will start a $100 millionAsia-focused hedge fund in Singapore as part of plans to expand itsbusiness in Southeast Asia. Woori plans to boost revenue contribution from its ...
Investors Wary of Goldman Hedge Funds
Jun 17, 2008; ... NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Amid Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'srelatively strong second quarter financial results in a challengingenvironment, hedge fund investments stood out as a sore spot. Alternative assets under management, including hedge funds, stoodat $146 billion as of the ...
Citi Cuts Forecast on BlueBay Warning
Jun 17, 2008; ... LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Investment bank Citigroup Inc. hasslashed earnings estimates and its target price for BlueBay AssetManagement plc after Europe's biggest credit funds operator warnedthat profits this year would be little changed from the previousyear. The move followed ...