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Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:

As a managed account program investor, Bryan Borgia allocates to a lot of hedge funds. He co-founded Topwater Investment Management in 2002, a Norwalk-based firm that creates customised managed accounts programs for large investors. Its main product, incepted the same year, operates in a similar way to a multi-strategy hedge fund.

"We farm out capital to traders or hedge fund managers, whatever they want to call themselves at that point in time in their careers, and they run their strategies for us in managed accounts under unique deal terms," he explained. The terms are unique in that the firm pays the managers a premium payout as opposed to what they would get paid in a hedge fund structure, and requires of them to bring "risk capital" to the account.

The first thing that Borgia does with new managers, he revealed at the recent Opalesque Connecticut Roundtable, is have a 15-30 minute phone conversation to discuss their firm and strategy.

"One common theme I see is that many managers still struggle with the proverbial elevator pitch," he observed. What they should do is break down into one paragraph what exactly sets them apart from their peers, and clearly define their potential edge. But for example long/short managers who believe their edge is being plus or minus 20 net should not define this as an edge but as a portfolio construct......................

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