/** mybloglog update news*/

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Marc Bender leaves EFX Capital

Marc Bender leaves EFX Capital, will stay in alternatives space
EFX Capital yesterday announced Marc Bender will be leaving the company.

Jonny Friedman and Marc Bender have been co-managers of EFX and supported by Lindsey Ryan and Jill Karnell since its inception. Marc has tendered his resignation and will continue his career goals in the alternative asset allocation space.

In a letter obtained by Opalesque, EFX Capital's CEO Donald Motschwiller said: “We are most grateful for Marc’s contributions over the years and wish him continued success. I will continue to oversee EFX with Jonny managing the day-to-day business, supported by Lindsey and Jill.”

Source:
Marc Bender leaves EFX Capital


Today's Top Stories
  1. http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/46033Book_review_How_do_you_trade.html
  2. http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/46031Regulatory_MFA_and_CPIC_issue_joint.html

MFA and CPIC issue joint statement of concern of SEC rulemaking processes as short selling restrictions are extended

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox may have spent last week reasserting his authority in the larger financial markets by urging Congress to give the SEC the power to supervise investment banks if a firm is in danger of collapsing (previous coveage: here), however this week by extending the emergency order on short selling until 11:59 pm August 12, 2008, Mr. Cox made his authority in the equity markets quite clear.

In response to the restricted short selling extension, the Managed Funds Association (MFA) and the Coalition of Private Investment Companies (CPIC) (which had previously sent a joint statement to Chairman Cox regarding the initial temporary action), joined forces once again to voice concerns about the temporary rule. In particular is their expression of concern for the process which was used to implement the temporary order. “We prefer to see a process for rule making, including time for market participants to contribute and comment in a manner similar to the adoption of Regulation SHO, which was subject to extensive notice and comment,” MFA President and CEO Richard Baker stated.

While there are certainly situations which require regulatory agencies to step in with temporary rules, the intentions Cox has stated since the regulation was imposed, to further expand the short selling regulation beyond the 19 protected financial institutions and into the entire market (previous coverage: here) are the source of much concern in the industry. CPIC Chairman James S. Chanos addressed this stating “We continue to believe that markets are best served when there is a level playing field between buyers and sellers, which in turn produces prices that have the greatest integ......................

Source:
MFA and CPIC issue joint statement of concern of SEC | Chairman Cox

Today's Top Stories
  1. http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/46033Book_review_How_do_you_trade.html
  2. http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/46028People_Marc_Bender_leaves_EFX_Capital_will.html

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Alternative Investments: The focus needs to be Global

Hedge Funds New York: This month T Boone Pickens took the case for investing in alternative energy to the American public with a flood of advertising on the major US television networks, and a website: www.pickensplan.com. The Pickens Plan is interesting, and lays out ideas for wind generation, solar power, and for vehicles – natural gas. While Mr. Pickens’ previous track record for success is remarkable, and his plan is swaying the minds of millions across the country the case can be made that its reasons for implementation (US independence of foreign oil) as well as its mainly domestic focus (the wind generation capabilities of the Great Plain states) are too narrow. Opalesque had the opportunity to speak with David Love, CFA, of CP Eaton Partners about how the firm, which has placed over $28 bln into more than 50 funds is researching and evaluating future opportunities within the alternative energy sector.

The focus needs to be global
While there are parts of the Pickens Plan that ring true with the research that CP Eaton has done, Love believes that the investment opportunities are much vaster than just the US focus which the plan takes. Not only is alternative energy being invested in on the corporate level (ie, General Electric), but on the country level as well (ie, Abu Dhabi), both of which announced a planned partnership this week where each will put $4bln into a joint business based in the UAE. Additionally, GE will provide expertise in environmental technologies to the construction of a new city, Masdar, which is intended to be a carbon neutral, zero-waste metropolis in the desert of Abu Dhabi.

The failures of past US administrations to take steps to foster the development of alternative energy sources have finally hit the nation in full force. Prescient entrepreneurs in the US have already staked claim to some of the opportunity in the alternative energy sector. However a larger boost to the industry should happen in the months following January 20, 2009, as whichever candidate finds himself in the office of the President, the economical implications have made it clear the government will need to recognize and work to foster the growth of this next industrial revolution.

Source:
Pickens Plan shortfalls and the gains to be made for hedge funds investing

Today's Top Stories:
What happened last week? 21-25 July, 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Washington reaches out to Greenwich as the US President sends an economic emissary to initiate a dialogue with hedge funds about the industry...

Alternative Investment News New York:

Over the past year the hedge fund industry has continued to grow and more importantly, preserve capital. Notice of these facts has reached Washington DC. Recently, Korok Ray, an academic from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, who is currently serving as Senior Economist on the Council of Economic Advisers for the Executive Office of the President, made a special trip to Greenwich, Connecticut. The purpose of this trip to one of the largest hedge fund centers in the United States was to discuss various issues relating to the hedge fund industry directly, as well as to the financial markets at large.

One of the industry representatives, and the only fund of funds, which Ray met with was Sands Brothers Asset Management, the US-based asset manager that has a global, multi-strategy family of fund of funds (Select Access Funds), an asset based lending fund (Genesis Merchant Partners), and several other alternative vehicles, running approximately $140 million in assets overall. Opalesque recently spoke with Jonathan Feniak, Director and Investment Committee Member, and Daniel Libby, Senior Portfolio Manager and Investment Committee Member at Sands Brothers about their meeting with the US President's economic representative.

"Up until this point the majority of Washington's information has come from the big Wall Street banks. The President and his advisors are realizing that hedge funds are playing a critical role in the development of the economy," Feniak said. Over the past year, as the large financial institutions have been caught up in the credit crunch hedge funds have achieved growing recognition of their ability to maneuver through the markets and avoid the larger losses that established institutions have suffered. "There have been a few episodes...but by and large the fund of fund indices and the hedge fund indices last year were still very strong," Libby pointed out.

Source:
Washington reaches out to Greenwich | Sands Brothers Asset Management

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The European Travelling Funds...

This is the last of a 3-part series on UCITS III. Europe’s very own travelling fund structure is further explored here with Hart Woodson, portfolio manager, and Laurent Leclercq, head of marketing at Advent. See yesterday’s part 2 here.

The flexible fund
Advent Capital Management, the $4.5billion institutional investment manager, launched its Global Convertible Active Extension Fund earlier this month with $65m initial capital from an existing investor.

Advent decided to use “Active Extension” instead of “130/30” when naming the fund and this is why: The fund seeks superior returns by investing in a portfolio of global convertible securities. Convertible securities offer investors positive asymmetry by generally producing equity-like returns with the lower risk associated with fixed income strategies. In particular, global convertibles enable clients to benefit from favourable opportunities across diverse geographic locations. The fund may also invest in global non-convertible securities including fixed income, equities and certain alternative products. The flexibility afforded by the Active Extension strategy allows the manager to express his views with greater conviction...

Source:
UCITS III European travelling funds - part 3 | Advent Capital Management launches first UCITS III as Active Extension

Today's Top Stories:
http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/45783Drexel_Hegemony_launches_2_funds_discusses.html

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

UCITS and Hedge Funds

Hedge Funds News London: Europe’s very own travelling fund structure is further explored here with Michael Hugues, head of business development and product management at Argos Investment Managers. See yesterday’s part 1 here.

Argos Investment Managers, a specialist fund management group based in Geneva, currently manages €180 million (US$ 285.6m) through five separate investment strategies. Argos’ activities fall into three categories: UCITS III alternative equity funds, physical asset funds and client-tailored hedge fund portfolio.

You cannot physically short in UCITS III
One thing that hedge funds can do and the UCITS III structure does not allow you to do is shorting individual stocks. “So for that reason, a large number of existing hedge funds don’t want to take on the expense and administrative difficulties involved in obtaining UCITS III status,” Mr. Hugues said. “Generally speaking, regulations create a barrier between the hedge fund world and the UCITS III market.”

What you can do
“For the big players in the UCITS III world which are the household names, when UCITS III came along, they converted their funds to UCITS III but then did not do very much with them. They didn’t really take on board at that point the full implications of what UCITS III actually allowed them to do… which is pretty much anything but shorting individual stocks.”

Source:
the European travelling funds - part 2 – Instruments | Argos Investment managers are launching another UCITS III alternative

Today's Top Stories:
  1. Private placement memorandums – the tax and accounting
  2. Beechwood`s catalyst approach to value investing | Canadas new funds part 7
  3. State Street assesses the impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Hedge Fund News London: Europe’s very own travelling fund structure is explored here. Mr. Aymeric Lechartier, Business Development manager at the consultancy firm Carne, provided Opalesque with expert commentaries.

What is a UCITS III?
UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities), are investment funds established and authorised in conformity with the requirements of Directive 85/611/EEC.

The two main attributes of UCITS III funds are:

(1) Once a fund is approved as UCITS III by a European regulator (Ireland and Luxembourg being the main domiciles), the fund then obtains a European Union passport which allows the marketer to distribute the fund in various European jurisdictions, after registration. These funds can also be distributed outside the European Union, such as Asia or LatAm – except for the U.S. - depending on each jurisdiction.

“Passporting is a quicker and easier procedure,” said Aymeric Lechartier. “This is why European managers opt for the UCITS III alternative for cross boarder distribution.”

(2) UCITS III funds can invest in a greater variety of financial instruments, thus allowing mutual funds to extend their reach and expand their returns. UCITS III status can be applied to 130/30s funds and some hedge funds too.

“Before UCITS III there were a whole lot of alternative strategies you were not able to conduct in a UCITS,” Mr. Lechartier noted. “Since the use of leverage and derivatives is allowed, alternative managers are more open to the UCITS III structure...

Source:
UCITS III the European travelling funds - part 1 – Alternative managers show interest as highest level of regulation


Today's Top Stories:
  1. Hedge fund redemptions – the legalities surrounding freezing assets
  2. Dutch hedge fund Mercurius in voluntary liquidation - investors
  3. What happened last week? 14-18 July, 2008

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Reaching the next asset raising goal..........

Reaching the next asset raising goal - Part Two: targeting acceleration capital

Kirsten Bischoff, Hedge Funds New York: As the hedge fund industry swells to accommodate institutional investors and pensions that have decided to increase their alternative allocations the standards for communicating strategy, strength of infrastructure, and long term outlook for funds and the businesses they are built on have risen tremendously. Opalesque spoke with a few people in hedge fund support services to find out how the asset raising aspect of growing a hedge fund business has changed, and how managers can best leverage support services to meet their business goals.


Acceleration Capital
Alexis Graham and Ian Tracy named their 3rd party marketing firm, Acceleration Capital Group LLC, for the critical period in a hedge fund's life when the fund is looking to reach an AUM size that makes it investable for a majority of institutions in the industry; the point when the hedge funds AUM size is no longer an investment constraint. These "acceleration capital" investors can range from seed vehicles to fund of funds to family offices to wealthy individuals, as well as larger institutional investors like pensions and endowments who are looking to increase allocations to the early stage space. "We view it as the people who want to be first and/or first to be second,'" Tracy explains. "The investors who look to provide a fund with acceleration capital are looking to invest in talented managers early to benefit from the manager's outperformance as well as to secure capacity as the fund grows. In some instances a seeder will provide the initial capital and acceleration capital will come in after so that the fund is on an AUM growth track (in addition to organic growth) that allows the manager to ultimately target additional investors and take in larger allocations."

Part of the industry evolution
The 10% rule that most institutional investors have in place, keeps assets from flowing down below a certain level of “mega funds”. “Most don’t want to write checks less than $10m,” Eamon Heavey, Director, Head of Americas Capital Introduction for Merrill Lynch’s prime brokerage commented. In fact, it is not unheard of for Heavey to have a manager say “don’t show me anyone that can’t take a $100m check.” For many fund managers, who have grown their assets steadily but perhaps incrementally and find themselves hovering around a certain number, securing acceleration capital can be instrumental in taking them to the next step, where they are large enough to get onto the radar screens of pensions and institutional investors. Heavey has built his team at Merrill based on a combination of talent, skill set, and rolodex specifically to assist the growing number of hedge fund managers who express a need for help in strategic planning to reach the next stage of targeted growth.

“The whole cap intro space has changed so much over the past 7 years that I have been active in it. The model in the early years was definitely to help t......................

Source:
Reaching the next asset raising goal - Part Two: targeting acceleration capital

Today's top stories in hedge funds:
  1. Melissa Ko`s spinoff Covepoint to launch with four of the six portfolio managers from former BSAM team, not all Bear execs attracted to JP Morgan
  2. http://www.opalesque.com/AMB2008/45782UCITS_III_the_European_travelling_funds.html

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Canada`s new funds part 6 – Roundtable`s new long/short equity fund will puts its money.......

Canada`s new funds part 6 – Roundtable`s new long/short equity fund will puts its money where its mouth is: Canada

Hedge Funds reports on a small selection of the 300 hedge funds located in Canada. The hedge fund industry in this northernmost part of the Americas is young and agile and looking to use these very advantages to become a force in global asset management (see part 5 here).

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London: In part 6, we look at Roundtable Capital Partners Inc. Opalesque talked to Geoff Spidle, president and co-founder, about his soon-to-be launched offshore hedge fund, the Roundtable Select Equity Fund and about Canada’s riches.

Roundtable’s fund

Roundtable Capital Partners is a two-year old firm based in Toronto, Canada’s financial hub, with a team of 8, C$90m in AUM and an onshore and an offshore fund.

The soon-to-be launched offshore fund’s objective it to maximise absolute return by identifying North American investment opportunities, with a Canadian focus, overweight resource stocks (energy, materials, agriculture). It will be using bottom up, fundamental analysis of individual companies and associated industry conditions – the macro economic environment not being ignored.

The strategy is long/short equity hedge with an opportunistic style and thematic sector shifts. It will be launched in August or September. Mr. Spiddle told Opalesque that he already has secured a C$20m (US$ 20.02m) commitment. Jim Allan is the portfolio manager; he has nine years of experience in managing long-short portfolios...

Source:
Canada`s new funds part 6 – Roundtable`s new long/short equity fund will puts its money where its mouth is: Canada

Today's Top Stories:
  1. Art Market Confidence Index: players have been pessimistic since May
  2. Reaching the next asset raising goal - Part 1: Targeting seed capital, new rules evolve through increased competition

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

ING Investment Management launches Alternative Beta strategy

ING Investment Management launches Alternative Beta strategy

ING Investment Management will launch a new investment strategy; Alternative Beta. This concept offers the benefits of attractive hedge fund returns against low costs, with high liquidity and full transparency of the investments. With Alternative Beta ING IM has developed a strategy that generates hedge fund like returns without actually investing in hedge funds. It makes hedge-fund-like returns accessible for a wide range of investors, including retail clients.

ING Alternative Beta strategy is a unique concept that combines attractive returns with low volatility and low correlation with other asset classes. The strategy has daily subscriptions and redemptions, high liquidity and full transparent investments. It is a concept developed and managed by the experts of the Structured Products team of ING Investment Management. The investment team has over 10 years of experience in developing and managing different structured funds and executing derivatives trades. With a total AUM of almost 9 billion euros ING IM is one of the leading structured fund houses in Europe.

Source:
ING Investment Management launches Alternative Beta strategy

Today's top stories:
  1. Investing in Pakistan, JS Fund Management launching 4 offshore versions
  2. Conquest Macro returned 8.14%
  3. Finisterre Capital hires Oliver Penn to risk management team

Canada's New Funds-Long biased small-cap hedge fund returns +35.6% in 8 months, 19.2% in June

Canada`s new funds part 5 - Long biased small-cap hedge fund returns +35.6% in 8 months, 19.2% in June, finds value in Canadian private placements


Hedge Funds
reports on a small selection of the 300 hedge funds located in Canada. The hedge fund industry in this northernmost part of the Americas is young and agile and looking to use these very advantages to become a force in global asset management (see part 4 : Canada`s new funds part 4: Hillsdale Investment Management ).

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London: In part 5, we look at a new investment firm called AlphaNorth which launched a small-cap hedge fund 8 months ago.The founders, Steven Palmer and Joey Javier, both AIG Global Investment Corp. alumni, run the fund from their offices in Toronto. They are hoping to hire an analyst later this year.

During the month of June, AlphaNorth Partners Fund Inc. returned 19.2% and +35.6% since inception in December 2007 (26.3% YTD). This is especially significant as both of the Canadian indices that AlphaNorth tracks were down in June. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index declined by 0.08% (-7.2% YTD) while the large capitalization S&P/TSX Composite Total Return Index declined by 1.4% (6% YTD).

Canada is not immune to the general lack of confidence in the markets; the Toronto Stock Exchange's main index went down by more than 2% on Monday, mainly due to resources issues.

The AlphaNorth Partners Fund’s AUM stand at about C$18m (US$17.6m) and is expected to raise up to C$100m. “It is quite low… but I don’t want to compromise performance of this fund vs. building assets,” Mr. Palmer said. “When we get to C$100m, we will close the fund.” The partners, as well as another investment firm (which is also a partner), made substantial investments in the fund.

The fund is expected to be volatile but the managers are reducing that with the hedge fund structure. Technically the manager is 80-100% invested in...

Source:
Canada`s new funds part 5 - Long biased small-cap hedge fund

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Swiss alternative investment manager Harcourt launched Belmont (Lux) Asset Based Lending fund

Swiss alternative investment manager Harcourt launched Belmont (Lux) Asset Based Lending fund on May 1st

Harcourt Investment Consulting AG (Harcourt) announced the launch of Belmont (Lux) Asset Based Lending, a fund of funds invested in pure ABL strategies.

The Fund has been developed in close cooperation with IST Investmentstiftung für Personalvorsorge to cover the needs of a conservative institutional client segment, such as pension funds, by applying strict investment guidelines for the underlying funds (the use of derivatives and shorts is excluded; the use of leverage is limited to 10%).

With its broad diversification across multiple ABL sub-strategies, Belmont (Lux) Asset Based Lending offers a stable return profile with meaningless correlation to equity and fixed income markets. The fund’s targeted annualized return is Libor + 250 bps net of fees, with 2.5% annualized volatility. Risks are minimized through careful bottom-up manager selection and a top-down focus on strategies which should perform well in recessionary or expansionary environments.

For further information please contact: Margaret Gouthier, Marketing, Harcourt Investment Consulting AG Tel.: +41 44 365 1000 E-Mail: gouthier@harcourt.ch....

Source:
Swiss alternative investment manager Harcourt launched Belmont (Lux) Asset Based Lending fund

Latest Stories:
  1. London based FoHFs and investors
  2. SGAM’s clone fund returns 1.3% YTD
  3. Peru pension funds eye alternative investments

Investing in Iran, The First Persia Equity Fund final closing date August 31, 2008

Kirsten Bischoff, Opalesque New York: The First Persia Equity Fund which is a long only, Cayman Island domiciled, Tehran regulated fund with a 2-year closed end structure had its first closing for its second round fund raising on June 18th. The fund, which raised 32m (US$50.2m) Euros last year saw an additional 34m Euros and will have two additional minor closings between now and the final closing date, which is August 31, 2008. Run by investment manager MEHR Cayman, The First Persia Equity Fund is the only fund licensed by the Iranian authorities through the Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Act, invests in a full range of equities on the Tehran Stock Market. Opalesque recently spoke with Managing Director Stephen Austen about the fund and the country, and the managers’ outlook for the future of the Iranian economy.

Economic facts about Iran
According to the US Energy Administration, Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and ranks amongst the world’s top three holders of proven oil and natural gas reserves. Iran is OPEC’s second-largest exporter after Saudi Arabia, and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil globally after Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Norway. Natural gas accounts for half of Iran’s total domestic energy consumption, while the remaining half is predominately oil consumption. The continued exploration and production of the offshore South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf is a key part of in Iran’s energy sector development plan (Source.)

Petroleum constitutes the bulk of Iran's exports (80%), valued at $46.9 billion in 2006. Iran's non-oil exports stood at $16.3 billion in the year ending March 20, 2007, a rise of 47.2% from the previous period. The total volume of imports to Iran rose by 189% from $13.7 billion in 2000 to an estimated $39.7 billion in 2005. Iran's major commercial partners are China, Germany, South Korea, Japan, France, Russia and Italy. A country rich in resources, Iran exported in 2007 $76.5 billion of which 80% was in petroleum. The consumer population of Iran is 70m of which 70% is under the age or 30.....

Source:
Investing in Iran - The First Persia Equity Fund final

Monday, July 7, 2008

How to create Sharia compliant hedge funds

Newedge Prime Brokerage (then known as Fimat), together with Ratings Intelligence, started to work on creating a Sharia-compliant prime brokerage platform. Ratings Intelligence also serves as the Sharia advisor to S&P and other financial institutions. Newedge then supported the launch of the first Sharia compliant fund in August 2005, and in October 2006 two more funds were set up.

Until that point, Sharia compliant hedge funds were mostly done as wrappers, where typically the return of a non-Sharia fund or investment was swapped out and wrapped into a structured product. Then it was stamped by a Sharia Board (given a "Fatwa") and sold into the Middle East market.

Integrated approach: Sharia compliance from trade day and beyond

In such a set-up, the structure could be Sharia compliant, but the underlying fund or product maybe wasn't. Newedge and Ratings Intelligence wanted to go beyond that. In addition, the fees tended to be pretty high on these products. The aim was to help create Sharia hedge or absolute return funds that were as transparent and Sharia compliant as possible, starting at the actual stock trading level.

"We are bottom-up in our approach", says Duncan Crawford, Head of Capital Introduction at Newedge Group Prime Brokerage division. "Like building a house, hedge fund managers have to take care that each step is properly executed, starting from the foundation, which is the trade, or the stock selection."

To ensure that the fund's compliance with Sharia laws is sustained, a sequence of steps and procedures are in place, starting with a stock screening at the trading/stock picking level. Then there is the Newedge prime brokerage operation, which is certified as Sharia-compliant. Additionally, Newedge is working with two administrators which are also certified to be Sharia-compliant.

The portfolio has to remain Sharia-compliant over time, which means the administrator continues to watch and check the portfolio so that the standards are maintained. "In essence, each step is covered. The fund is approved by the Sharia Board, as are the administrator and the prime broker. In our set-up, we use the Ratings Intelligence Sharia Board", says Duncan Crawford. "One of the key points is having a Sharia Board who is as widely recognized as possible......

Source:
How to create sharia compliant hedge funds

NYC hedge funds help build the largest multifamily building.....

NYC hedge funds help build the largest multifamily building ever constructed by Habitat for Humanity

Hedge Funds for Habitat - New York City, an initiative by the hedge fund community to provide New York City families with affordable housing, recently held an evening of art, wine and awareness at the Max Protetch Gallery.

Professionals from the hedge fund and private equity industries were on hand to celebrate Habitat for Humanity - New York City’s largest (and greenest) project ever, a 41-unit condominium building in Brooklyn made with environmentally friendly materials. This will also be the largest multi-family building.

Hedge Funds News leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. Since February 2003, Opalesque is publishing Alternative Market Briefing, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space combining proprietary news with the �clipping service� approach of integrating third party news. Each week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 360,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries.

Source:
NYC hedge funds help build the largest multifamily building ever constructed by Habitat for Humanity



Emerging markets specialist Exotix on the long term values of emerging markets, looking to develop involvement in the Iraqi stock market

Emerging markets specialist Exotix on the long term values of emerging markets

Amir Zada, associate director at Exotix, an investment broker specialising in emerging markets and frontier markets with expertise on illiquid, distressed, undervalued debt, spoke to Opalesque about some recent issues related to emerging markets and especially Africa.

Emerging markets, and of late, frontier markets, have been the way out of economies suffering from subprime-related troubles. This month (July) alone saw London-based firm Fincere Ltd. launching a global emerging markets hedge fund, HSBC’s fund arm announcing plans for a frontier market fund, Calstrs looking to allocate to frontier markets and news of sovereign wealth funds turning to emerging markets. Although a recent Fitch report says there has been a sharp acceleration in inflation in several EM economies, “posing a major challenge to relatively young monetary and inflation targeting regimes”, nevertheless, activity indicators for most emerging (and developing) market economies remain strong. Fitch forecasts still impressive growth of around 6% this year, albeit down from more than 7% in 2007” (Coverage.)

The Credit Suisse / Tremont Emerging Markets Hedge Index was up 2.14% in May and -1.99% YTD. The Barclay Emerging Markets Hedge Fund Index did not do so well as it returned -3.58% (est.) in June and -8.86% (est.) YTD. And the Eurekahedge Emerging Markets Hedge Fund Index returned -2.78% (est.) in June and -5.30% YTD.

Local currency funds are favourite
“Investors are flocking to emerging market debt, brushing past securities issued in hard currency to buy sovereign bonds in Mexican pesos, Brazilian reals or Turkish lira,” reported the FT. According to figures from Standard Asset Management, local currency assets accounted for most of the inflows, attracting about $212m, compared with $63m into blended funds. “If you look at the way hard currencies have been performing of late… Comparing to 2000, the values of local currencies is so much more,” Mr. Zada said. “So for the near future at least, local currencies are very beneficial.

IPOs: more to come from emerging and frontier markets
It was reported last month that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was seeing an increasing amount from emerging market companies raising IPO capital. “The smaller companies tend to list on the Alternative Investments Market (AIM) ,” Mr. Zada said. “The larger economies’ companies (from BRIC economies) would very likely do an IPO on the LSE purely because of capital restraints. But you do have smaller economies’ companies that are doing extremely well. Nigeria for example, in which GDP is growing at 5% p.a., has a lot of companies that are going for IPOs in alternative markets.”

Source:
Emerging markets specialist Exotix on the long term values of emerging markets




Emerging markets specialist Exotix on the long term values of emerging markets | Emerging markets specialist Exotix | Emerging markets specialist Exotix on the long term values of emerging markets, looking to develop involvement in the Iraqi stock market

How to create Sharia compliant hedge funds

Newedge Prime Brokerage (then known as Fimat), together with Ratings Intelligence, started to work on creating a Sharia-compliant prime brokerage platform. Ratings Intelligence also serves as the Sharia advisor to S&P and other financial institutions. Newedge then supported the launch of the first Sharia compliant fund in August 2005, and in October 2006 two more funds were set up.

Until that point, Sharia compliant hedge funds were mostly done as wrappers, where typically the return of a non-Sharia fund or investment was swapped out and wrapped into a structured product. Then it was stamped by a Sharia Board (given a "Fatwa") and sold into the Middle East market.

Integrated approach: Sharia compliance from trade day and beyond

In such a set-up, the structure could be Sharia compliant, but the underlying fund or product maybe wasn't. Newedge and Ratings Intelligence wanted to go beyond that. In addition, the fees tended to be pretty high on these products. The aim was to help create Sharia hedge or absolute return funds that were as transparent and Sharia compliant as possible, starting at the actual stock trading level.

"We are bottom-up in our approach", says Duncan Crawford, Head of Capital Introduction at Newedge Group Prime Brokerage division. "Like building a house, hedge fund managers have to take care that each step is properly executed, starting from the foundation, which is the trade, or the stock selection...

Source: How to create Sharia compliant hedge funds



How to create Sharia compliant hedge funds | Sharia compliant hedge funds | create Sharia compliant hedge funds

Sarkozy plans SWF to counter speculative funds, Japan ponders sovereign wealth fund

Sarkozy plans SWF to counter speculative funds

French paper Le Monde reports that French president Nicolas Sarkozy recently declared his intention to make French’s depositary reserves (Caisse des depots ‘CDC’) into a sovereign wealth fund… « There is no reason that France should not have one, » he said.

In January, Mr. Sarkozy had already indicated that he wanted to make CDC into a political instrument of defence of firms against the rise of speculative funds. The French government also wants to have the fund invest in sensitive sectors .

About Opalesque: Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. Since February 2003, Opalesque is publishing Alternative Market Briefing, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space ("Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service." - Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary news with the “clipping service” approach of integrating third party news. Each week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 400,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries. Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html).

Source: Sarkozy plans SWF to counter speculative funds

Sarkozy plans SWF to counter speculative funds | Sarkozy plans SWR | Japan ponders sovereign wealth fund

The Comeback of the Hedge Fund of Funds: London Based Hedge Fund of Funds and Investors Set The Record Straight

The Comeback of the Hedge Fund of Funds: London Based Hedge Fund of Funds and Investors Set The Record Straight
London, July 7th, 2008 -- Opalesque, the world's largest subscription-based publisher covering the alternative investment industry, has just launched the seventh issue of its groundbreaking Roundtable Series: Opalesque U.K. Roundtable (download here: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=static&and=RoundtableUK)

Remember a couple of years ago various reports claimed funds of hedge funds were doomed because of the multi-strategy managers? The fund of funds didn't look to good back then. This Opalesque UK Roundtable held June 5th 2008 in London offers some important updates on this discussion.


In addition, you will read:
 Which strategies work and are in demand since the credit crunch?
 Why this is not the time to go into passive investments
 For what strategies is the credit crunch actually a good environment, who is striving
 You hear a lot about that difficulty of valuing collateral - why this complaint is often without merit
 Vital points investors often overlook in discussing fees with hedge funds
 What UK based managers say about the FSA principles-based regulation
 What US investors often don't understand about UK regulations


The Opalesque UK Roundtable was sponsored by Newedge Prime Brokerage Group (www.newedgegroup.com) and took place in their London office with the following participants:

 David Harding, Founder and CEO of Winton Capital Management
 Paul Dunning, CEO, Financial Risk Management Limited (FRM)
 Tim Haywood, CEO of Augustus Asset Managers Ltd. (formerly known as Julius Baer Investments Ltd.)
 Stephen Oxley, Managing Director PAAMCO Europe (Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company)
 Joe Leitch, Co-Founder and COO of Rubicon Fund Management
 Karsten Schröder, Founding Partner and CEO of Amplitude Capital
 Gerard Gardner, Partner, North Asset Management
 Alistair (Ali) Lumsden, Portfolio Manager, CQS Management
 Mark Salem, Managing Director of Mount Capital
 Duncan Crawford, Head of Capital Introductions, Newedge Prime Brokerage Group
 Philippe Teilhard de Chardin, Global Head of Prime Brokerage, Newedge Group


The Opalesque U.K. Roundtable Script can be downloaded here: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=static&and=RoundtableUK

All other previously published Opalesque Roundtable Scripts (New Zealand (March 17th), Australia (March 25th), Singapore Roundtable (April 24th), Hong Kong (May 1st), Japan (May 23rd), New York (June 11th) can be downloaded here: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveRT

Matthias Knab, Director of Opalesque Ltd, moderates the Opalesque Roundtables. Matthias Knab is an internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and alternatives and has frequently served as chairman of hedge fund conferences in New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Miami, Bahamas, Stockholm, Dubai etc. In addition, he has presented or moderated at hedge fund events in Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid, and Bombay, and lectured at numerous universities on the subjects of hedge funds and the state of the global alternative asset management industry.

About Opalesque:

Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. Since February 2003, Opalesque is publishing Alternative Market Briefing, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space ("Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service." - Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary news with the “clipping service” approach of integrating third party news. Each week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 400,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries.

Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html). For more information, please go to http://www.opalesque.com.


About Opalesque publications:

Alternative Market Briefing:

A daily newsletter on the global hedge fund industry, highly praised for its completeness and timely delivery of the most important daily news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers both a quick overview and in-depth coverage. Subscribers can also access the industry’s largest news archive ( 27,000+ articles ) on hedge funds and related topics.

A SQUARE:

Opalesque A SQUARE = Alternative Alternatives is the first web publication, globally, that is dedicated exclusively to alternative investments. A SQUARE's weekly selection feature unique investment opportunities that bear virtually no correlation to the main stream hedge fund strategies and/or distinguish themselves by virtue of their "alternative" motive - social, behavioural, natural resources, sustainable /environment related investing.

With its "research that reveals" approach, fast facts and investment oriented analysis, A SQUARE offers diversification and complementary ideas for: private, high net-worth and institutional investors, pension funds and endowments, portfolio and hedge funds managers.

Technical Research Briefing:

Delivers three times a week a global perspective/overview on all major markets, including Equity Indices, Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities. Opalesque Technical Research is unique compared to most available research which is fundamental in nature, and not technically (chart) oriented.

Opalesque Roundtable Series:

In an Opalesque Roundtable, we unite some of the leading hedge fund managers (single and multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base (institutions, fund of funds, advisers) to gain unique insights into the specific idiosyncrasies and developments, the issues and advantages of individual global hedge fund centers.

No matter if you are a hedge fund investor looking for new talent, a hedge fund interested in diversifying your investor base or a service provider looking for new clients, you will get to know some of the leading heads of each hedge fund center and find invaluable information and intelligence right on your desk, without any travel involved.

For more information, please go to : Hedge Funds News

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Olympia Capital Management launches the Olympia Energy Fund Olympia Capital Management launches the Olympia Energy Fund best opportunity in....

Olympia Capital Management launches the Olympia Energy Fund

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London: Olympia Capital Management launches the Olympia Energy Fund, a diversified multi-strategy energy related fund of hedge funds with an initial investment of 50M$ provided by a leading international energy company. The Cayman registered Olympia Energy Fund seeks to exploit the energy commodity market inefficiencies in order to generate absolute returns. This product is dedicated to long-term capital appreciation and will allocate to hedge funds investing in all the components of the energy and energy related markets employing CTA, global macro, long/short, equity market neutral and physical trading strategies.

Guido Bolliger, Olympia’s Co-CIO told Opalesque in an email communication that energy was probably the sector that offered the best opportunity set of the financial industry for the forthcoming year. “In our opinion, it can be compared to the internet sector at the beginning of the nineties. The need to find alternative sources of energy will attract huge amount of capital to finance research and development projects. On top of that, investing in real assets like energy provides the best protection against increasing inflation....
Source:Olympia capital management




Olympia Capital Management launches the Olympia Energy Fund | Olympia Energy Fund |Olympia Capital Management