Hedge Fund Hegemony And How To Handle It

Diane Harrison

OHegemony, holding a slightly sinister meaning in most contexts, defines an asymmetrical power relationship, in which there is social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by one group over others. Where better to see hegemony in practice than in the world of hedge funds, when the behemoth bests the niche fund, in terms of investor attention, assets gathered, and institutional scrutiny?

Yet there are real benefits to be found when one can look beyond the obvious asset size power play and seek strategically advantageous investment funds that serve the needs of investors. The managers of these less-notable funds will benefit from tips on how to gain more notice from niche seekers and show themselves as a focused agent of investment talent

SMALL CAN BE MIGHTY

I live only a few miles from the hometown of one of America's true war heroes, so want to share the story of small triumphing in the face of huge odds as an apt example of beating hegemony. Memorial Day in Raritan, NJ is also known as John Basilone Day, a WWII war hero the town memorializes with all its other veterans. A good summary of what made John a hero is encapsulated on the website World-War-2-Diaries. com:

The US-led forces landed on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942, surprising the Japanese and seizing an airstrip called Henderson Field. But the Japanese clung on tenaciously and fought bloody battles against the Allies before finally relinquishing the island in February, 1943.

A regiment of 3000 Japanese soldiers from the so-called "Courageous" Sendai Division descended on John's unit defending the airstrip. The attackers came in from the front lodging grenades, machine gun shells and mortar fire. John led the defense with two machine gun sections of about 15 men. They fought almost without a break for the next two days. John's comrades ......................

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This article was published in Opalesque's New Managers a top-down monthly analysis, news and research publication on the global emerging manager space.