Opalesque Exclusive: CFTC passes new registration rule, launches high frequency trading working group... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is moving forward on several key changes. It finalized a new rule yesterday that will require commodity pool operators (CPOs) and com

Opalesque Exclusive: Rothschild buys Héritage A.M., and other French hedge fund news... [more]Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: Rothschild buys Héritage A.M. Here is an instance of two fund of funds houses getting it together. Rothschild & Cie Gestion, the asset management arm of the Rothschild Group in France,

Assets – Dymon hard-closes macro hedge fund at $2.5bn, Trafigura hedge fund targets $3bn by year-end, GlobeOp Capital Movement Index up 2.25% in February... [more]Dymon hard-closes macro hedge fund at $2.5bn From Asianinvestor.net: Dymon Asia Macro Fund, managed out of Singapore by former Citadel executive Danny Yong, has hard-closed at $2.5 billion, ranking it as one of the region’s biggest indigenous hedge funds. Launched in August 2008,

Performance – York Capital Management funds mostly post gains in January, Andrew Hall’s commodity hedge fund Astenbeck fell 3.8% in 2011, Och-Ziff net income drops 94% as performance fees decline... [more]York Capital Management funds mostly post gains in January From WSJ.com: Hedge fund manager York Capital Management said most of its funds posted gains in January, though its $470 million Asian Opportunities Fund declined by a minor 0.4%, according to an investor letter. The letter didn'

Alternative UCITS outperform hedge fund equivalents, Thames River asks UCITS managers for three-year track record in short-selling... [more]Alternative UCITS outperform hedge fund equivalents From Citywire.co.uk: Alternative UCITS are outperforming hedge fund equivalents in a majority of sectors according to new data presented at the Citywire Global France Retreat in Chantilly on Thursday… Full article:

Distinction converts Cautious Return into multi-manager fund... [more]From Investmentweek.co.uk: Distinction Asset Management has converted its Cautious Return fund into a multi-manager absolute return portfolio, managed by Armstrong Investment Managers. The £29m fund, abbreviated to D-CAR, is Dublin-domiciled and structured as UCITS III. Underlying managers inc

Institutions – Cook County pension fund hires first funds of hedge funds, Investors putting consultant-managers on short leash... [more]Cook County pension fund hires first funds of hedge funds From HFMweek.com: The $6.85bn County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity & Benefit Fund of Cook County, Illinois, has hired three funds of hedge funds (FoHF), marking the pension’s first steps into the hedge fund arena, HFMWeek.com r

U.S. hedge funds' bet on European banks pays off... [more]From WSJ.com: When the German bank HSH Nordbank AG launched a tender offer this week for its hybrid securities, it was a pay off that had been a long time coming for a group of U.S. hedge funds. Going back to last June, when the Hamburg bank hosted a meeting at its office in the Helmsley Building ad

Comment – Avoiding emerging market economies is the biggest gamble of all... [more]From Moneycontrol.com: Volatility looks likely to continue across equity markets in 2012. But the risks we typically care about most are large permanent losses, not volatility. There is a strong case that we do not face a plethora of potential large permanent losses from multi-country investing in e

Regulatory – Hong Kong SFC concludes short position reporting rules, SEC grants additional registration relief to certain special purpose vehicles created by registered advisers... [more]Hong Kong SFC concludes short position reporting rules The Securities and Futures Commission publishes the conclusions to the Further Consultation on the Securities and Futures (Short Position Reporting) Rules (Rules) ended in November 2011. The proposed Rules attached to the conclusions

MF Global Update – MF Global’s customers protest 'wrongful act' insurance... [more]From WSJ.com: Customers of MF Global Holdings Ltd. say the failed brokerage shouldn't pay for a potential "wrongful act" legal defense of former Chief Executive Jon Corzine and others with money from MF Global's own insurance subsidiary. In filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan,

Legal – SEC reaches settlement in Bear Stearns hedge fund managers case, Hedge fund adviser Illarramendi paid $36 m in bribes to Venezuelan official to keep up fraud scheme, Receiver in Nadel Ponzi scheme sues Wells Fargo... [more]SEC reaches settlement in Bear Stearns hedge fund managers case From Reuters.com: Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers who were acquitted of criminal charges in 2009 are prepared to settle a civil case with U.S. market regulators over subprime mortgage-backed securities, according

People – HazelTree appoints Sandeep Rawal as Chief Technology Officer, Ex-BofA McNicholas joins State Street as sales head... [more]HazelTree appoints Sandeep Rawal as Chief Technology Officer HazelTree, a provider of Treasury management services for alternative investment managers, has appointed Sandeep Rawal to the position of Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately. In his new position, Mr. Rawal wil

Activist News – Owl Creek hedge fund cuts stake in Navistar... [more]From Reuters.com: New York-based Owl Creek Asset Management, a $7 billion hedge fund, reported a 7-percent stake in truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp, down from an 8.4 percent stake in December, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday. Navistar has been in the spotlight as bill

News Briefs – Virogen announces discussions with European hedge fund to secure long term financing... [more]Virogen Inc., a holding company specializing in data security and encryption technology, today announced that the company is in discussions with a European hedge fund to secure long term financing for the commercialization of its products and services worldwide. (www.marketwatch.com)

…And Finally – Wine thief breaks into Wine Thief, police say... [more]From MSN.com: Early this morning, there was a wine thief at the Wine Thief, police said, and he has expensive taste in wine. Police said Mark Clark, 54, of New Haven, threw a rock through the window of the wine shop at 181 Crown St. around 3 a.m. and took a rare bottle of 2006 Chateau Teyssier