Opalesque Exclusive: Recent developments have been good for ManCos... [more]B. G., Opalesque Geneva: The European funds market may be a complex environment, but ManCos are here to take on the burden of the paperwork and transform most funds into a European vehicle ready for distribution. In part 2 of this interview, Julian Mayo, head of business development at

StepStone raises $600m for debut distressed credit fund... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The global private markets firm StepStone Group has raised more than $600m for its Credit Opportunities Fund I (SCOF I), which will target both liquid and illiquid credit at stressed, dislocate, and distressed entry points. The US-based investment firm specializin

Opalesque Roundup: Larger funds outperformed smaller and mid-sized funds in April: hedge fund news, week 17... [more]In the week ending May 13th 2022, several hedge fund databases reported mixed results for April. eVestment said April was a difficult month in the investment/financial markets, and the

Hedge funds scale back bets on US stocks as losses surge... [more]From FT: Hedge funds focused on US equities are pulling back sharply on their bets after the longest stretch of sustained selling in more than a decade left many managers nursing stiff losses. The S&P 500 index has fallen for six weeks in a row in a tumultuous stretch that on Thursday left Wal

Pelham hedge fund losses worsen to record 28% as stocks plunge, Maverick, Light Street among the latest wounded Tigers... [more] Pelham hedge fund losses worsen to record 28% as stocks plunge From Bloomberg: Pelham Capital, a hedge fund specializing in betting on and against stocks, is in its deepest slump since its launch about 15 years ago as the sell off in equity markets accelerates. The firm's main Pelh

New Launches: KKR mulls raising billions of dollars for first ESG credit fund, JPM rolls global equity strategy into $770m enhanced index fund, Troob Capital closes second tactical opportunities fund... [more] KKR mulls raising billions of dollars for first ESG credit fund From Bloomberg: KKR & Co. is planning to raise billions of dollars for its first credit fund focused on sustainable investing, according to people familiar with the matter. The plans are in their infancy, but are likel

Tiger Global: The hungry hedge fund... [more]From FT: Ever since it walked away from buying a stake in Alibaba, New York hedge fund Tiger Global has vowed never to make the mistake of passing on what could become a market-leading company. During the most recent pandemic, Tiger Global has appeared even more determined than ever, and venture cap

Institutional Investors: San Diego City Employees tweaks equity allocation targets, Seattle City Employees slates $85m for alternatives, LACERS lowers private equity commitments for 2022... [more] San Diego City Employees tweaks equity allocation targets From PIonline.com: San Diego City Employees' Retirement System's board on Tuesday rebalanced the allocation targets within its equity portfolio, while keeping its 39% equity target allocation. The board for the $10.7 billion

Investing: Tiger Cubs crushed by stocks that made hedge funds billions,... [more]From Bloomberg: Chase Coleman and other so-called Tiger Cubs made billions crowding into the same collection of high-flying technology stocks including Netflix Inc., Carvana Co. and Shopify Inc. Now those shares are in free-fall, along with the hedge funds that piled into them. Clients are ang

SPACs: After SPAC mania, electric-vehicle startups face a cash squeeze, SPAC Metaverse Acquisition files for a $150m IPO, targeting the metaverse arena, Banijay to go public on Euronext stock exchange via SPAC deal, SPACs listing in Switzerland, The multibillion-dollar SPAC risk driving off Goldman, BofA... [more] After SPAC mania, electric-vehicle startups face a cash squeeze From Bloomberg: Two years into the SPAC merger boom for electric-vehicle startups, companies are having a tough time finding cash to actually produce cars. First Lordstown Motors Corp. said it would back off investing

People: Shoaib Khan promoted to CIO of New Jersey Pension Fund, Hedge fund Millennium's hiring revealed in investor letter, Deutsche Bank SPAC banker who didn't attend strip club gets job... [more] Shoaib Khan promoted to CIO of New Jersey Pension Fund Shoaib Khan, acting director of Treasury's Division of Investment (DOI), has been selected as the permanent director of the division, State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio announced Friday. DOI is responsible for the investment

Commodity: LME boss wants to crack open a black box of commodity trading... [more]From Bloomberg: The London Metal Exchange's demand for details of private deals between its members and their clients marks a line in the sand by chief Matthew Chamberlain, as he seeks to repair the market's reputation and avoid a repeat of this year's nickel-market chaos. Yet it's likely to r

Crypto: How more than $1tn of crypto vanished in just six months, Failed exit? Traders complain Crypto.com reversed profitable LUNA transactions, Did institutional investors crash the crypto party?, Inside the week that shook crypto to its core, Bitcoin skeptic Nouriel Roubini is pushing a digital replacement for the dollar, Goldman, Barclays invest in Alan Howard crypto trading platform, Stablecoins need to be tethered by real-world rules... [more] How more than $1tn of crypto vanished in just six months From WSJ: Traders' flight from risky investments has halved the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, wiping out more than $1 trillion worth of digital money since November. Wild swings are fairly common with cryptocur

SWF: Temasek and Future Fund navigate deglobalisation and changing generations, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF launches coffee company... [more] Temasek and Future Fund navigate deglobalisation and changing generations From Asian Investor: Volatile geopolitics, unpredictable monetary policy and generational differences in priorities means sovereign wealth funds will have their work cut out for them in the coming decades. If

U.S.: US investor John Rogers on how black-run funds still have to fight for equality... [more]From FT: Allocations to diverse managers are still lagging far behind those to white managers, as racial bias and outdated practices continue to impede growth and development of non-white investment talent in the US, says John Rogers, founder of $15bn fund Ariel Investments. "People are used t

Europe: Euro is sliding toward dollar parity for first time in 20 years, Britain's crypto list: Here are the people to watch... [more] Euro is sliding toward dollar parity for first time in 20 years From Bloomberg: The euro is on the verge of U.S. dollar parity for the first time in two decades. Europe's common currency has already slumped to a five-year low near $1.03, buckling from a rush into the greenback as a haven

Asia: Global investors on hunt for Asian data centres, New opportunities emerge as China transitions, Foreign managers count on China market's inefficiency for years to come... [more] Global investors on hunt for Asian data centres From Asian Investor: Major asset owners, such as APG, NZ Super and AustralianSuper, are looking to invest in data centres in Asia even as the demand for these assets outstrips the current supply. Several major investors in Europe, Aus

Study: For a decade, pensions wanted yield from real assets. Now they want inflation protection... [more]From Institutional Investor: In the endless quest for yield, state pensions have been quietly moving a significant amount of money into real assets over the last decade. Now they are hoping these investments can protect them from inflation. Between 2011 and 2021, institutional investors incre

PE/VC: How inflation, monetary tightening and volatility are impacting PE and VC, Corporate venture investors pulled back in Q1 but less than you imagined, Europe's giants: Five PE funds made up half of the region's fundraising in 2021... [more] How inflation, monetary tightening and volatility are impacting PE and VC From Pitch Book: Inflation is running at its highest level since the early 1980s and well above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%, driven by economic stimulus, supply constraints and geopolitical disruptions.

Family Offices: Traditional family offices emerge as unlikely venture capitalists... [more]From FT: Few people would guess that Jed York, owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, is an early investor in dozens of technology start-ups. The 42-year-old owes his wealth to sports and shopping malls: his grandfather made his riches in Midwest property before buying the 49ers in 19

ESG: Finnfund aims to keep portfolio CO2 net-negative in strategy update, Why is Bill Ackman backing this anti-woke firm?, Fund managers jump into ESG niche with potential to grow 2,000%, ESG world at a crossroads owing to growing list of societal vulnerabilities... [more] Finnfund aims to keep portfolio CO2 net-negative in strategy update From IPE: Finnish state-owned development financier Finnfund said its new strategy up to 2025 includes the aim of maintaining the net-negative emissions status of its now €780m investment portfolio. The fund r

Legal: UK court blesses charity trustees' Paris-aligned strategies... [more]From IPE: The England and Wales High Court has ruled that trustees of two charitable trusts are permitted to implement a Paris-aligned investment strategy even though this might cause financial harm in the short-term. The charities in question in the case, Butler-Sloss v Charity Commission, ar

Regulatory: SEC warned that alt data is rife with due diligence risks days before Thinknum crisis emerged, Regulators are getting nervous about stablecoins after Terra's stunning collapse... [more] SEC warned that alt data is rife with due diligence risks days before Thinknum crisis emerged From Waters Technology: On the corner of 47th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City, half a dozen cement mixer trucks line up to deliver their loads to the growing construction that will ul

News Briefs: Bonds suddenly look like a smart hedge again even after 12% loss, Iconic Man Ray photograph of nude woman fetches record $12.4m at Christie's, SoftBank's losses signal the end of a VC era... [more] Bonds suddenly look like a smart hedge again even after 12% loss From Bloomberg: A few brave souls in the investing world are starting to move back into bonds to ride out an oncoming economic storm. While debt bulls on Wall Street have been crushed all year, market sentiment has sh

And, finally: Criminal of the week... [more]From BizarreNews: San Diego police arrested pair of package thieves and found a car full of stolen items along with an incriminating to-do list. Kristina Green, 19, and Gary Withers, 38, were arrested when an Amazon delivery driver called 911 after witnessing the theft of two packages from Encin