Six months after hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman purchased a $2 billion stake in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), the lineup of major investors at the consumer products giant has taken a subtle but noteworthy shift. Hedge funds like Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management now own 4.4 percent of institutional shares, double their holdings from June 30. While their overall share of the company is still small, they could be an influential voting bloc for change if the company’s current turnaround efforts falter. “These guys are lining up and making their bets,” said Pete Sorrentino, a portfolio manager with Huntington Asset Advisors in Norwood.
Cliff Asness: Not All Hedge Fund Products Are Worth Hedge Fund Fees (Forbes)
Cliff Asness has no problems with fees. In fact, he loves them: “particularly when they’re coming to me.” The problem AQR Capital Management’s co-founder has is when investors pay big fees for strategies and exposures that don’t offer the proper bang for the buck. “You don’t just pay for something, you pay for how unique it is,” Asness told me when he visited Forbes last week.
Total number of single-manager hedge funds reached record level of 7,867 in 3Q12 (Opalesque)
In the week-ending 14 December 2012, Hedge Fund Research reported that new hedge fund launches and liquidations had maintained the pace of recent quarters in 3Q12 despite macroeconomic risks, political uncertainties and regulatory changes; Michael Cagney, a hedge-fund manager backed by China’s largest social-networking website, is starting a series of loan funds that targets Ivy League graduates; and UK-listed F&C A. M. launched the F&C Real Estate Equity Long/Short UCITS fund.
Arden Asset Management launches $700 million mutual fund (CPIFinancial)
The Arden Alternative Strategies Fund, which offers investors access to hedge fund strategies, seeks to achieve capital appreciation. In pursuing this objective, the fund seeks to achieve a relatively low correlation to the major equity and fixed income markets in a daily liquidity format. The fund complements Arden’s core business of providing customised hedge fund solutions, managed accounts, commingled vehicles and other vehicles for its global institutional and pension fund clients.
SEC Increases Its Scrutiny Of PE Valuations? (PEHub)
In recent years, private equity has largely avoided the scrutiny facing the hedge fund industry. All this is changing, mostly due to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act in 2010. Under Dodd-Frank private equity advisors, typically general partners, must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. So far, 1,504 hedge and private equity fund advisors have registered with the agency since passage of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Greenwich Hedge Fund Index up 0.36% in November, 4.6% YTD (Opalesque)
Hedge fund managers returned modest gains on average amidst volatile markets in November 2012, with the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index up +0.36% for the month. Most strategies reported positive results for the month, with the notable exception of Managed Futures. The GGHFI’s gain of +0.36% trails global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return (+0.58%), and MSCI World Equity (+1.07%) equity indices. 62% of constituent funds in the GGHFI ended the month with gains.
