Hedge funds back Geithner as Fed chief (CNBC)
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shouldn’t be ruled out as a candidate for the next Federal Reserve chairman, according to delegates at a big U.S. hedge fund event in Singapore. Ben Bernanke’s term as chairman of the U.S.central bank ends in January and President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nomination for the next Fed chief soon. Delegates at the Skybridge Alternatives(SALT) Conference believed Geithner at the Fed would mean more accommodative and pro-stimulus measures from the central bank.
Cliff Asness: most traditional hedge fund strategies probably aren’t worth big fees anymore (Opalesque)
Asness explained how, in this day and age, the classic hedge fund strategies that have always worked will continue to work – although with a more crowded field of practitioners they will probably be less profitable than they had been historically. He’s referring to styles like long/short equity, merger arb, convertible arb, etc. These types of strategies, he notes, probably are not deserving of the standard 2-and-20 anymore, given how easy they are to access and how common they’ve become.
Amid market uncertainty, Boston’s Baupost Group considers return of some client funds (BizJournals)
Faced with new challenges and market uncertainty in putting all of its money to work, Boston-based hedge fund giant Baupost Group is expected to return some cash to clients by the end of the year. That’s according to Reuters.com, which quoted two unnamed sources who said they are familiar with the plan but could not say exactly how much of the $28 billion Baupost manages could be returned to investors. Baupost Group is run be hedge-fund veteran Seth Klarman, whose 31-year track record at the firm is considered among the best in the business.
Schroders launches GAIA Avoca Credit fund (FundWeb)
Schroders is launching the externally-managerd Schroder GAIA Avoca Credit fund on its GAIA platform. Avoca’s current Ucits fund, the Avoca Credit Absolute Return fund will be merged into the Schroder’s fund at launch in November. Avoca Capital Management’s Simon Thorp and James Sclater will be responsible for the management of the long-short portfolio. The fund will aim to deliver annualised returns of 7-10 per cent net of fees and will focus predominantly on European corporate credits and financials with smaller global allocations, including emerging markets.
R.I.’s pension fund $780 million for an 11.1% return (ProvidenceJournal)
Rhode Island’s pension fund earned some $780 million in investment returns during the past fiscal year after paying about $70 million in fees, according to preliminary numbers presented Wednesday to the State Investment Commission. Put another way, the fund earned returns of 11.1 percent after paying fees that totaled about 0.9 percent, or 90 basis points, for the year that ended June 30. State General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo, who has been criticized with the rest of the commission for investing in hedge funds that protect against downturns but come with higher fees, said the returns suggest the commission’s strategy is working.
Meet the hedge fund owner investing in design futures (AFR)
When Daniel Droga moved into a dilapidated warehouse in Foster Street in Sydney’s Surry Hills, his neighbourhood included a tattoo parlour, an illegal brothel and a retailer of Chinese herbs. There were no cafes, let alone any specialising in single-roast beans and bearded baristas. It was 1992 and the inner-Sydney suburb was still a good decade off becoming the groovy hub that it is today.
