High-yield Asia debt boom spurs ex-RBS exec to start hedge fund (Reuters)
A trio of French ex-bankers led by former Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS) managing director Geoffroy Wallier are planning a $40 million Asia fund, seeking to cash in on a red-hot Asian credit market that offers the potential for much greater returns than Western counterparts. The launch, part of a global trend of bankers starting their own hedge funds as U.S. regulators increasingly restrict banks from trading with their own money, comes amid a notoriously tough capital raising environment for Asian hedge funds due to poor returns and the small size of many of the start-ups.
Asian investors warming to hedge funds of funds (PIOnline)
Hedge funds-of-funds providers say they are getting a fresh look from institutional investors in Asia this year, after a prolonged drought. It’s not a flood, but there’s been a noticeable pickup in dialogue and RFPs, especially from North Asian markets such as Korea and Japan, said James A. Rice, senior managing director and head of international with K2 Advisors LLC in Tokyo. On July 17, Korea Post Insurance, which manages $27 billionin premiums for insurance policies sold through the country’s post office network, issued an RFP for global hedge funds-of-funds managers with multistrategy offerings.
Institutions probably won’t lose investments in S.A.C. (PIOnline)
Institutional investors have survived another hedge fund blowup — this time S.A.C. Capital Advisors LP — with barely a bruise. The Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney Preetinder Singh “Preet” Bharara for the Southern District of New York have filed civil and criminal cases, respectively, stemming from their investigations – with the assistance of the FBI – of alleged insider trading by the S.A.C. complex of companies. To date, six S.A.C. or affiliate company portfolio managers or research analysts have pleaded guilty to insider-trading charges. Portfolio managers Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg are scheduled to stand trial later this year on similar charges.
Will Rhode Island’s big bet on hedge funds pay off? (ProvidenceJournal)
A few weeks ago, New York billionaire hedge fund trader Daniel Loeb, who has $66 million in Rhode Island state pension funds, made nearly 10 times that when he sold 40 million shares of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) stock, two years after buying a stake in the Internet giant and orchestrating Marissa Mayer’s hiring as CEO. In the spring, another billionaire hedge fund manager, Paul Singer, who has $70 million in Rhode Island pension money, made headlines for buying up Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) stock and forcing a board shakeup to prod the oil company to pursue fracking for natural gas. The jury’s still out on that deal.
US hedge funds move into ‘Newcits’ (FT)
More than half of US hedge fund groups have launched a traditional mutual fund, are in the process of launching one or are considering doing so, according to new research. This replicates a similar trend in Europe, where an easing of investment restrictions for mainstream Ucits funds opened the door to a swath of “hedge-fund lite” Newcits vehicles. Several US hedge fund houses, such as AQR Capital Management, Highbridge and Ramius, have already launched ’40 Act funds – mutual funds regulated under the 1940 Investment Company Act – in order to widen their investor base. Traditional houses such as Pimco have also moved into the so-called “liquid alternatives” arena.
The Life And Career Of Bill Ackman — The Hedge Fund Manager Everyone’s Picking On These Days (BusinessInsider)
Ever since activist investor Bill Ackman publicly declared he’s shorting Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), he has become the target of the biggest names in the hedge fund community. The tall, handsome, silver-haired billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management has a reputation for being extremely confident. However, some rival fund managers have described him as “sanctimonious” and they view going long Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) as an opportunity to squeeze Ackman on his short position.
