SEC Targeting 4 Hedge Fund Developments in 2013 (AdvisorOne)
Bruce Karpati, head of the SEC’s Asset Management Unit, housed within the agency’s Enforcement Division, told compliance officers Tuesday that overseeing hedge funds’ compliance will continue to be a priority for the agency next year. Speaking at the Regulatory Compliance Association’s conference in New York, Karpati said that from 2010 to present, the SEC’s Enforcement Division has brought more than 100 cases against hedge fund managers, “a significant majority of which involved conflicts of interest, valuation, performance, and compliance and controls.”
State Treasurer Lockyer wants pension funds to purge some gun investments (Sanluisobispo)
Treasurer Bill Lockyer has asked the state’s two largest public pension funds to purge their portfolios of gun manufacturers that make firearms that are illegal in California. Lockyer, a board member of both the public employees’ and teachers’ retirement systems, made the request Monday afternoon following revelations that CalSTRS has a stake in the company that makes rifles like the one used in last week’s Newtown, Conn., school shooting.
Hedge fund trades that made top grade (FT)
Hedge funds have struggled through another bracing year. The average manager has made just 4.9 per cent in the past 11 months, according to Hedge Fund Research – hardly the kind of eye-watering returns the industry is known for, or charges for. Amid the disappointment, though, some trades have paid off. A handful of funds have made billions through large, often directional, contrarian bets. In March, buying Greek debt did not seem like such a clever move. Several hedge funds had just had their fingers burnt by Greece’s long-expected debt restructuring. Leading market commentators – such as Pimco’s Mohamed El-Erian in the FT – said it was “highly likely” the bailout would be found wanting, and a further restructuring was all but inevitable.
Another Hedge Fund Nailed for ‘No Skin in the Game’ (ComplianceWeek)
For at least the second time in seven months, the SEC has brought an enforcement action against a hedge fund for falsely informing investors that the fund or its executives were investing in the fund right alongside investors. The most recent enforcement action was filed yesterday, when the SEC brought settled administrative proceedings against Aladdin Capital Management, Aladdin Capital and a former executive, Joseph Schlim.
Is Copper the New Red Gold? (ResourceInvestor)
Federal detention centers in the San Francisco Bay area are slowly filling up with a new type of criminal. Thousands of illegal immigrants and petty drug dealers are being joined by a rising tide of copper thieves raiding abandoned government facilities for their heavy gauge copper electrical wire. At current prices a decent night’s haul can net crooks up to $20,000 at black market recycling centers. Long known as “Dr. Copper”, because it is the only commodity with a PhD in economics, the red metal has been an excellent forecaster of economic activity around the world. Hedge fund managers have been impressed by copper’s ability to hold up, and even advance in the face of the “fiscal cliff”.
Even Gold Bull Jim Rogers Is Turning Cautious (CNBC)
With gold prices being hammered in recent weeks, and trading near four-month lows on Wednesday, longtime gold bull Jim Rogers is sounding a word of caution, saying it’s possible the correction in bullion may continue into the new year. “Just be careful, there’re too many bulls, including me, but I’m very cautious,” Rogers told CNBC. “Gold is having a correction— it’s been correcting for 15-16 months now— which is normal in my view, and it’s possible that [the] correction is going to continue for a while longer.”
