| Editor's Note | ||
| Dear subscriber, today we have moved servers and we at Opalesque may have temporary problems receiving mail due to delays with the registration of the new IP adress with the internet name servers. Later today this should work again. New York will host the Hedge Funds World 2004 at the Grand Hyatt March 29-30. As an Alternative Market Briefing subscriber, Terrapinn is offering you a 10% discount - please remember when registering. |
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| Recommended Reading | ||
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This is not an easy book to read, but as another hedge fund manager describes it in the foreword, it is a timeless guide. “When I enter the inevitable losing streak that befalls every investor, I pick up ‘The Alchemy’ and revisit Mr. Soros’s campaigns,” writes Paul Tudor Jones. |
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| Hedge funds post positive return of +0.99% in February | ||
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Hedge funds produced a positive return of +0.99% in February, bringing the 2004 year to date return to +3.07%, according to the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index. The Hennessee Emerging Markets Index was the top-performing index in February with a return of +2.90% (+5.00% YTD). Asia was the main driver as Taiwan's economy expanded 5.17% in the fourth quarter, primarily due to technology exports, and the IMF raised Korea's GDP growth forecast by 0.75%, from 4.75% to 5.5%. The second best performer for the month was the Hennessee Pacific Rim Index, with a return of +2.40% (+3.33% YTD) as Taiwan posted positive numbers and Korea received positive economic news. In third position was the Hennessee Regulation D Index, posting a return of +2.35% (+6.47% YTD) as the need for capital is increasing in an expanding economy, particularly for middle market companies that do not have easy access to capital markets. The funds in the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index are derived from the Hennessee Group's database of over 3,500 hedge funds and are net of fees and unaudited. Source
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| Auburn Mulling Multiple Searches | ||
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Institutional Investor reports Auburn University will most likely conduct searches for international equity, hedge funds, private equity and real estate managers. Source
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| Pension Veteran Wants Big Changes In Consulting Business | ||
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After years in the pension business, Gary Findlay is convinced that conflicts of interest are a way of life for many of its most powerful players. Findlay runs the $5.4 billion Missouri State Employees' Retirement System, and heads the Council of Institutional Investors, a group of large public and corporate pension funds. He has long been a critic of firms known as pension consultants. These advisors - which often run their own brokerages - operate in a lucrative arena, acting as gatekeepers to big pension funds. They control who gets hired to manage billions in retirement assets, while selling costly services to the very money managers they review. Source
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| Morgan Stanley Grip on Hedge Funds Slips, Bear Gains | ||
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Bloomberg reports that Morgan Stanley's hammerlock on selling brokerage services to hedge funds is slipping as Bear Stearns Cos. seizes a bigger share of the $7 billion in annual fees. Revenue from prime brokerage has grown 50 percent over the past three years. Prime brokers hold $750 billion of assets for hedge fund managers, including George Soros and Louis Bacon, offering everything from office space and computer systems to trading execution and loans of money and stock. “Prime brokerage has been a very good business, and now everyone is getting into it”… Source
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| VAN announces market sentiment indicators | ||
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Van Hedge Fund Advisors International released today its market sentiment indicators for U. S. equities, the U.S. dollar and the U.S. Treasury 10-year Note. The VAN Macro Sentiment Indicators are based on the outlook of hedge fund managers employing a macro view and who manage in excess of $33 billion in assets. The purpose of the indicators is to reveal how these managers believe the S&P 500, the U.S. dollar and the U.S. Treasury 10-year note will perform over the current month. The Indicators will be published monthly on or about the fifth business day and will provide the outlook for that month. Source
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| Vanguard Scraps Ban on Late-Hour Fund Exchanges | ||
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Vanguard Group said Monday it will no long prohibit investors from placing orders between 2:30 and 4 p.m. Eastern time in order to move from one Vanguard fund to another. The restriction on exchanges was one of the safeguards Vanguard has used to prevent market-timing activity in its mutual funds. Source
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| Funds deploy novel defense in market timing cases | ||
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So say some mutual-fund companies in response to allegations that they allowed certain traders to improperly buy and sell fund shares. Because other fund shareholders seemingly suffered little or no financial harm from some of these trading arrangements, the firms involved are invoking the sports adage -- that there's no harm so there's no foul -- as a defense against regulators pursuing fraud and similar charges. However, experts doubt this defense will be enough to sway investigators. Source
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| Drama in the Windy City: Chicago Rivals Team up as Eurex Enters Game | ||
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On January 2, 2004, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) unveiled their Common Clearing Link, a pooling of resources by two often contentious rivals in the face of competition from the new guy in town, Eurex U.S….“It’s a most astonishing development for which we can, to some degree, thank Eurex,” says Philip McBride Johnson, head of exchange traded derivatives law at Skadden Arps in Washington, D.C., and former chairman of the CFTC. “Two exchanges that would rather have run over each other are now talking and acting like they have a lot they can do together.” Source
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| Why an S.E.C. Hurdle Won`t Stop Fund Speculators | ||
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The NY Times reports the SEC proposed last month that mutual funds be required to charge shareholders a 2 percent fee on all sales made within five days of purchase. While such a fee might well discourage short-term trading, it would not help ordinary investors. That is because the proposal doesn't address the root of the problem: the stale pricing of funds. Stale prices result from the delay between the last trade of a fund's securities and the calculation of a fund's per-share value. Arbitrageurs have been able to exploit stale prices and profit at the expense of ordinary shareholders. Source
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| AIMA Canada to Hold Media Briefing on Sound Practices Guide for Hedge Fund Managers | ||
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AIMA Canada will hold a media briefing to mark the launch its new Sound Practices Guide for Canadian Hedge Fund Managers. AIMA executives will provide briefing on background, content, purposes and effect of this Guide which will mark an important milestone for the $10 Billion+ Canadian Hedge Fund Industry. Source
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| Charities told that hedge funds are good for you | ||
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Ifiglobal.com cites a message from investment managers Chiswell Associates to charitable trustees saying they should consider diversifying portfolios to include both traditional stock market and alternative investments, such as property and funds of hedge funds. Chiswell is delivering its message at the national launch of its Compendium of Investment for Charities, the most comprehensive guide to investment available to the charity sector. Source
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| UK hedge fund RAB plans to raise 8 mln stg in IPO | ||
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Reuters reports that RAB Capital, a London-based investment manager specialising in hedge funds, said on Monday it planned to raise eight million pounds ($14.5 million) when its shares list in London later this month. RAB said it would sell shares in the initial public offering (IPO) on London's junior market AIM at 25 pence apiece, valuing the company at 85 million pounds. Source
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| A lamentable package for Lord Lamont | ||
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Financial Times is drawing attention to former chancellor Lord Lamont, who is getting 1m share options for his work warming a non-executive board seat at hedge fund RAB Capital, which is listing on Aim. Source
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| Italy: Hedge Fund assets are growing | ||
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Ifiglobal.com reports that independent research group Promedia has found that total holdings of hedge funds in Italy rose from €2.2 billion (US$2.8 billion) at the end of 2002 to €6.2 billion (US$7.9 billion) at the end of last year. Promedia envisages that total holdings of hedge funds in the country will rise to €12 billion by the end of 2004 and to €18 billion at the end of 2005. Source
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| South Africa: Regulation should take brakes off money flows | ||
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The growth of hedge funds is being slowed by the failure of the Financial Services Board (FSB) to finalise regulations that will legitimise the industry and make it accessible to the general investing public, according to industry players. But while this braked the flow of money to hedge funds, it has not stopped the industry in its tracks. It has grown to R7 billion from R2 billion in 1997, with the number of hedge fund managers increasing from only five in that year to 55. Source
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| Hedge Funds World 2004 29 – 30 March, Grand Hyatt, New York | ||
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Quality opinion - quality content
Hedge Funds World 2004 is designed around a series of panels - not just a load of theory; it will be about questioning the issues and structures, to create a more practical and efficient learning experience. The conference will address the key issues in the industry today that are crucial to investment success for tomorrow:
Debate with industry leaders and introduce new ideas - a perfect event to learn from and contribute to the hedge fund investment industry.
Don't be left behind, register today by calling +44 (0) 20 7242 2324, email to wendy.tay@terrapinn.com or register online now! Important: Please state *Opalesque subscriber* in your correspondence to get your 10% discount. Hedge Funds World 2004 is proudly sponsored by: Banif Investing Banking Å BNP Paribas Å Cargill Investor Services Å Chicago Board of Trade Å Cornell Theory Center Å Dundee Leeds Å Eurex Å Fortis Prime Fund Solutions Å Fulcrum Limited Å Hunter & Hunter Å Walkers And endorsed by: Hedge Funds Association Å Managed Fund Association Å The National Association of Investment Fiduciaries 
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| European Hedge Fund Congress April 6 & 7th - 10% discount | ||
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Around 200 institutional Investors and Family Offices from Western and Eastern Europe will be meeting high ranking representatives from the hedge fund and financial community at the premises of Porsche in Leipzig to discuss portfolio diversification with hedge funds. Among the speakers:
The European Hedge Fund Congress will provide the guidelines, and highlight products and solutions provided by the European alternative investment community through institutional investor case studies and workshop sessions. Delegates will have the opportunity to explore hedge fund strategies hands on, and to discuss applicable structures and vehicles with industry professionals. We invite you to join us at the Porsche Factory in Leipzig, Germany for two days of networking and discussions about the rapidly-changing European Hedge Fund Industry, as we explore the future of this emerging global investment paradigm. The Porsche factory - where the new super sportscar Porsche Carrera GT is built - may be visited. On April 7th Porsche invites to testdrive Porsche 911, Boxter or the new Cayenne on the Porsche Driving Court. Register NOW by calling tel: +49 341 355202-33, e-mail: s.rosenkranz@ombiasy.com 
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| New York City Hedge Fund Reception at the NYMEX March 30th 2004 | ||
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Global Capital Acquisition is very pleased to announce the first NYC Hedge Fund Reception of '04 to take place at the world center for commodity training, The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The colossal NYMEX trading facility will serve as the backdrop for a program of impactful and informative speakers. The speakers will be followed by a live trading pit simulation and cocktail party with hors d'oeuvres. We also plan to employ one of the trading pits for a live auction to help raise money for charity. This reception will also serve as the closing cocktail party for the upcoming Terrapinn Hedge Fund World 2004 Conference to take place on the 29th and 30th at the Hyatt Hotel, NYC. Tour Busses will be available at 6:00 PM in front of the Hyatt Hotel at 42nd Street to whisk the guests to the NYMEX and provide a free tour Big Apple Tour on the way. |
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| Hedge Funds World Germany - 10% discount for all subscribers | ||
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Leverage Germany's outstanding hedge funds potential at Hedge Funds World Germany 2004!
29 - 31 March 2004, Frankfurt, Germany
Meet the next hedge fund managers and German investors at Hedge Funds World Germany 2004! Top-level speakers include:
Register NOW by calling tel: +44 (0) 20 7242 2324, e-mail: naheed.sharmin@terrapinn.com or register online here. Please state *Opalesque subscriber* in your correspondence to get your 10% discount.
Hedge Funds World Germany 2004 is sponsored by: |
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Alternative Market Briefing has been called the best free newsletter on hedge funds. Our mission is to intelligently select and timely provide the most important daily news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Please mail us your feedback and suggestions to feedback@opalesque.com - we love to hear from you!
Opalesque Ltd.
+49-89-512668-68 This newsletter is edited by Matthias Knab (MK) for Opalesque Ltd. For more information about me and Opalesque Ltd. please use this link. Jeff Posner (JP), a Chicago based PR specialist and free lance writer focussing on the financial industry, is a contributing editor of this newsletter. He can be reached at Geoffp7@juno.com. Did you know? Opalesque is giving you free access to the newsletter archive - use this link. Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter
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