German Hedge Fund Manager Becomes Fully Operational Bank

Baader Wertpapierhandelsbank AG has been granted membership to the Compensation Fund of German Banks(EdB) by the German Financial Supervisory Authority(BaFin).

Once the entry into the commercial register has been completed, the institution will be known under its corporate name, Baader Bank AG.

"Receiving the full banking licence is a significant sign of the faith that is placed in the capability of our bank', commented Uto Baader, Chairman of the Baader Board of Directors.

The bank operates as an all-round service provider for asset managers and other institutional customers as well as an arranger of financial innovations. The main products and services provided by the bank include certificates, publicly offered funds, single hedge funds and funds of hedge funds as well as managed accounts.

Baader Service Bank currently has 26 employees and reported net profit of EUR 0.56 million ($1 million) with total assets of EUR 53.3 million ($83.2) in 2007.

$100 Million Legacy Africa Alpha Fund Launched By Bank - Hedge Fund Duo

Florida based hedge fund manager INTL Consilium LLC and First City Monument Bank Plc have jointly launched the Legacy Africa Alpha Fund, a $100 million hedge fund investing in Africa and the Middle East.

"The new Legacy Africa Alpha Fund is a natural extension to our global products as we have been investing aggressively in the region for three years now." Jonathan Binder, co-portfolio manager, said.

Structured as an absolute return fund, the strategy focuses on capital appreciation and income via investments in debt and equity securities in sovereign or corporate entities located in Africa and the Middle East. The goal of the strategy is to produce consistent absolute returns while maintaining attractive risk-adjusted return profiles, irrespective of the conditions of the global markets.

The Legacy Africa Alpha Fund will place a 30% cap on its Middle Eastern weighting to ensure significant exposure to Africa’s fastest growing economies,

"INTL already has over $450 million invested in the region in both debt and equity securities in over 16 different countries as they were quick to identify value and growth opportunities at a time when many investors shied away." co-portfolio manager Charles Cassel added, "The Legacy Africa Alpha Fund is an exciting venture for our team, as it will allow us to leverage our existing knowledge and contacts within the region."

In addition to the Legacy Africa Alpha Fund, CSL is simultaneously launching two additional funds under the flagship “Legacy” brand. The Legacy 50 Fund, an index tracker of Nigeria’s top 50 companies by market capitalization and the Legacy Banking 10, driven semi active fund investing in Nigerian Banking shares will each be launched with N3 billion under management. This will bring total assets under management to N24 billion ($ 205 million), making it arguably the largest asset manager in Nigeria.

Hedge Fund Hotels Nurture Start-Ups

Hedge funds have grown from as few as 300 funds in 1990 to more than 10,000 today. However, there has been a recent drop in new fund launches due to the recent credit crunch, closures and bankruptcy have dislodged talented managers who are now looking to start up investment pools of thier own.

Hedge fund hotels are playing an important role in the process of new hedge fund formation, giving talented yet little known managers a place to start from, while both minimizing costs and distractions to the investment process.

Companies such as HedgeCo LLC, a NY-West Palm Beach hedge fund service provider, has opened a hedge fund hotel in midtown Manhattan offering tenants a ‘plug and play’ solution, and features such as windowed offices, private workstations and team rooms.

"No other firm offers office space with as many benefits." Evan Rapoport, Co-Founder of HedgeCo, said, "We are pleased to be in the position to offer these servicies at this important time of growth in the hedge fund industry"

Following in the trend, KnowledgeSuites has opened a hedge fund hotel in Toronto and Eurekahedge in Singapore, there have also been stories of hedge fund hotels springing up in the Hamptons, as well as more in the Cayman Islands.

Hedge fund hotels typicaly come pre-furnished, with receptionist, conference room with plasma, copy machines, kitchen, bloomberg terminal, access to capital introduction events, conference passes and discounts on various hedge fund services, as is the case with HedgeCo’s Manhattan opening.

"Hedge fund hotels simply add incremental liquidity and opportunity into the investment landscape." Roger Ehrenberg of Information arbritage says, "If a manager can’t cut it, they fail and go home. If they do make it, however, riches are bestowed upon them…especially if the firm has the ability to seed top prospects and reserve future capacity."

Wealthy Americans Prefer Alternatives To Traditional Investments

The recent Bank of America Survey of high net worth Americans indicates that US investors understand the risk and rewards of hedge fund investments. Many expressed greater satisfaction over the last 12 months with their holdings in alternatives, including hedge funds, venture capital, real estate and private equity, than their more traditional investments, including stocks and bonds.

Surveying more than 400 high net worth investors with greater than $3 million in investable assets, 267 held investments in alternatives overall, including 92 who held investments in hedge funds or hedge funds of funds. Nearly one-third (32%) of the data collected focused on the attitudes of individuals with investable assets of $10 million or more.

The findings also indicated a positive relationship between satisfaction with alternative investments and the length of time the investments were held. Investors with 10 or more years of experience in alternatives were almost twice as likely as those with fewer than 10 years of experience to be "extremely satisfied” with their total portfolio since their initial investment.

Negative stories published about hedge funds appear not to have deterred experienced hedge fund investors, according to the survey's findings. When asked if negative publicity about hedge funds impacted their investment decisions, 44 percent of those invested in hedge fund vehicles said no and only 20 percent said yes.

"Our study demonstrates that, despite the portrayal of hedge fund investors as risk-takers investing in aggressive managers," David Bailin, president of Bank of America Alternative Investment Solutions, said, "Many high net worth investors have a realistic understanding of the risks associated with their holdings and realize that large alternatives managers are institutional in their investment approach and the quality of their investment professionals.”

Sidley Expands Hedge Fund Practice in London

Sidley Austin has further expanded its hedge fund practice in London by hiring a new counsel in the Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives practice.

Barry Breen has joined the firm’s London office and will focus his practice on hedge funds and further expand Sidley’s fund capabilities in London. "Barry is a talented and experienced hedge fund lawyer and we are pleased to have him join us to enhance our growing fund capabilities in Europe," said Bruce Gardner, head of the hedge fund practice in London.

Breen will advise clients on the organization of offshore and onshore hedge funds, including master/feeder,fund of funds and side by side investment structures, commodity pools, registered fund of funds and mutual funds, ETFs, and the registration, regulation and governance of registered management investment companies.

"I am thrilled to join a firm with such a respected and renowned global investment funds practice," said Breen. "I look forward to working with Bruce, David and the other partners in the practice to continue to build and strengthen the funds team in London, Europe and globally."

Breen previously was with Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP in the Financial Services, Hedge Funds and Capital Markets practice operating out of their New York and London offices.

Sidley has a international practice in structuring and advising investment funds and advisers. In 2006 and 2007, the Alpha Awards(TM) for hedge fund service providers ranked Sidley as the number one onshore hedge fund law firm. Additionally, in 2008, the firm was named "Investment Funds Team of the Year for the U.S." by Chambers and Partners. In 2007, Sidley also was named Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year by Asian Legal Business. The Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives practice group consists of more than 100 lawyers in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo.

Southridge Launches Atypical Market Neutral Fund

Southridge LLC, a New York financial holding company, is launching a "not as you know" market neutral fund to addd to their portfolio of funds.

The new fund, Southridge Market Neutral US LP has the capacity to grow to $1 billion, the fund will have a $500,000 investment minimum, 2/20 fees and monthly liquidity.

Ten years in the making, Southridge Market Neutral is designed and managed by Andrew G. White, CFA. "We’re quite encouraged that our new fund strongly outperformed during first half of 08, despite being a start-up in truly hostile markets. We’re even more optimistic for the future." White commented.

“We launched the fund as quantitative market neutral, but not as you know quant or market neutral," White said, "High return with low downside risk is possible if you first focus on return using objective trend-following in US large/mid cap stocks and then employ risk control including NO leverage.”

Focusing on what works and why, the strategy is objective trend-following instead of subjective mean reversion. Investing in US large/mid caps (100% long / 100% short), the fund strategy unusually uses no leverage or factor hedging. Nonetheless, risk/return profile is similar to 6:1 leveraged market neutral funds, but with a vastly smaller market footprint and black swan exposure.

Stephen Hicks, Southridge's CEO, said, “As we leverage our twelve year track record at Southridge, we look forward to further broadening our product line for our investor base and view the Southridge Market Neutral US strategy as an integral part of that mosaic.”

SEC Compliance Alert Warns Investor Advisers On Ethics

The SEC has released a new 'ComplianceAlert' letter identifying common deficiencies and weaknesses that SEC examiners have found during recent compliance examinations of registered investment companies and broker-dealers.

The alert finds weakness in several areas including; personal trading by investment advisory employees, incomplete code of ethics, soft dollar practices, "Free lunch" sales seminars, broker-dealers' issues, supervision, and use of mortgage financing as credit for the purchase of securities among others.

"Our June 2007 ComplianceAlert was very well-received by industry compliance and legal professionals," said Lori Richards, Director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. "Many industry compliance staff told us that, after reading it, they reviewed their firms' practices in the areas we noted and took steps to ensure that their firms' practices were fully compliant. By highlighting our recent examination findings in this way, we expect that this second ComplianceAlert will be similarly helpful to industry firms that are seeking to be proactive in addressing compliance risks."

Iraqi Babylon Fund Maintains Calm in June

So far this summer, with only some slight exaggeration, Iraq could comparatively be portrayed as a stable, safe & secure place, according to the Fact Sheet for June 2008 for the Iraqi Babylon Fund.

Relative calmness characterized Babylon Fund's performance in June, mainly trading sideway with a modest 0.6% performance in the red at closing. Most of the fund's sectors, asset classes and portfolio holdings experienced calm waters, except for the internationally traded oil companies whose volatility increased significantly.

The overall portfolio strategy has allowed the Iraqi fund to stay in positive territory through the year, with a +1.7% performance on a YTD basis. In anticipation of increased riskadjusted returns on the medium-term we continue to add to our Iraqi

The Babylon Fund is an open-ended mutual fund investing into large-cap Iraqi-dependant securities, mainly listed on the Iraqi stock exchange in Baghdad, but also in other countries.

Asia's 5 Largest Single-Manager Hedge Funds

Asia-based funds are getting bigger according to Alpa Magazine. Several of the funds on the list are relative newcomers and five members of the Asia 25 ranking were not on the list last year.

The 25 largest funds in Asia collectively had $52.2 billion in assets as of March 31, up from $35.5 billion a year earlier and $22.6 billion at the start of 2006.

Tokyo-headquartered Sparx Group Co. ranks No. 1 on the Alpha 2008 Asia Hedge Fund 25 for the second year in a row, with $8.1 billion in assets under management. Hong Kong-based Value Partners, which controls $5.9 billion, is No. 2 again, also retaining its 2007 ranking. Singapore's Artradis Fund Management climbs from eighth to third by almost quadrupling its size, to $4.7 billion. And although Singapore-based Arisaig Partners slipped from third to fourth, it nearly doubled its assets under management, to $4.3 billion.

Sparx's lead is precarious. The company is in negotiations to sell a majority stake in its $3 billion Seoul-based Cosmo Investment Management Co., a move that would drop it into second place behind Value Partners and only slightly ahead of Artradis.

Hedge Fund Backed GlamMedia Hires ExGoogle Director

Michael Adair, former head of sales finance for Google North America is joining Glam Media Inc, a global web-publishing network, as Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance.

“I am excited to join Glam Media’s executive team as we leverage Glam’s vertical network model that it is ripe for expansion,” said Michael Adair. “Glam’s focus on creating the right network model for display advertising makes them one of the most exciting companies in media today.”

This newly created position involves evaluation and execution of Glam Media’s strategic investments, corporate development and corporate finance. The company is backed by hedge fund GLG Partners, Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, and Information Capital among others.

While at Google, Adair directed Google’s North American sales finance team and worked closely with Google’s president of advertising and commerce. Adair helped lead the team that managed strategic acquisitions responsible for over $3.5 billion in revenue, including dMarc, YouTube and DoubleClick.

Pharos Russia Fund Holds Up In June

Russia held up very well over the month of June, according to one of the most experienced Russian hedge fund managers, Pharos Financial Group. For the first half of 2008, the Pharos Russia Fund was up 3.8%, the Pharos Smll Cap Fund was up 6.8% and the Pharos Gas Investment Fund was up 3.3%. This compares very favorably with the MSCI Russia Index which was down 2.9% over the same period.

Trading activity throughout June was primarily driven by developments in global markets as domestic news flow was relatively light. However, Russia was very resilient through this very difficult month. The best performing stocks in June were fertilizers, metals and mining companies, which have also been the best performers over the first half of 2008.

Meanwhile, one of the most important developments in June was the final dissolution of utility holding company RAO UES. UES has been one of the most liquid stocks in Russia since it began trading in 1995, and for much of the following 10 years it was traded as the market proxy for Russia. The de-listing and final break up of UES on June 6 was the culmination of a very thorough restructuring of the entire utility sector which has seen $100B of assets split into a series of independent companies, and is one of the great underreported business stories of this decade.

"We expect financial markets to continue to be challenging throughout the summer as the credit crisis continues to wrack global markets." Pharos said, "Russia's economy remains a beacon of stability in these turbulent times and the country is in excellent financial shape. However, global nervousness and uncertainty will cause short term volatility that will at times push fundamental valuation metrics aside. Our funds are positioned relatively defensively here, and we are focusing on investments that should outperform in this difficult environment."

Pharos Financial Group is specializing in the securities markets of Russia and the former Soviet Union. With a eleven year history through up and down markets, Pharos has a proven record of superior absolute returns with Russian Hedge Funds and Russia Hedge Fund Investing.

CPIC and MFA Say Financial Problems Not Related To Short Selling Rules

The Managed Funds Association (MFA) and the Coalition of Private Investment Companies (CPIC) called on SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in a letter to not extend the emergency order on short selling beyond the announced expiration date.

"While we recognize that the financial sector is undergoing an extraordinarily difficult period," Richard H. Baker, MFA President and CEO, said, "we believe that these difficulties are the result of poor fundamental conditions and not a mysterious conspiracy or, more to the point, the inadequacy of current rules related to short selling."

"Such action would severely burden short selling activity, which the SEC itself repeatedly has acknowledged plays a vital role in the stability of securities markets." James S. Chanos, CPIC Chairman said, "Restrictions on short sales distort the fundamentals that drive market prices and are, in the long run, counter-productive because they remove liquidity and healthy skepticism from the marketplace."

The current expiration date is 11:59 pm on July 29, 2008.

CPIC is a coalition of private investment companies whose members and associates are diverse in both size and investment strategies managing or advising an aggregate of over $100 billion in assets.

MFA members represent the majority of the largest hedge fund groups in the world who manage a substantial portion of the approximately $2 trillion invested in absolute return strategies. MFA is headquartered in Washington, DC, with an office in New York.

SEC Loosens Ruling On Fund Solicitation Fees

The SEC has clarified its position on the "Cash Solicitation Rule" saying that a registered investment adviser may compensate a person for soliciting investors for, or referring investors to his or her investment fund.

Usually, under the rule, it is illegal for an investment adviser to pay a cash fee, directly or indirectly, as the "Cash Solicitation Rule" only applies to solicitations of “clients.”

But the SEC has taken the position that solicitations of investors for investment funds should not fall ito that category. The determination of whether the cash payment is being made solely to compensate that person for soliciting or referring investors will depend on the facts and circumstances of each particular case.

The SEC also warned that "Despite the additional guidance provided by the interpretative letter, investment advisers will need to continue to be mindful of potential traps for the unwary when entering into solicitation agreements."



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Original Release

SEC Clarifies Application of Cash Solicitation Rule to Payments by Investment Advisers

In a July 15, 2008 interpretative letter, the SEC staff clarified that Rule 206(4)-3 (the “Cash Solicitation Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) does not apply to a registered investment adviser’s cash payments to a person solely to compensate that person for soliciting investors for, or referring investors to, an investment pool managed by the adviser.

The Cash Solicitation Rule makes it unlawful for a registered investment adviser to pay a cash fee, directly or indirectly, to a solicitor unless the payments are made in compliance with conditions specified in the Cash Solicitation Rule. As the Cash Solicitation Rule only applies to solicitations of “clients,” the SEC has taken the position that solicitations of investors for investment funds should not fall within the purview of the Cash Solicitation Rule. This position is consistent with statements recently made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Goldstein, et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, which vacated as arbitrary the SEC’s requirement that investment advisers count the shareholders, limited partners, members or beneficiaries of the pools as “clients.”

The SEC staff indicated that the determination of whether a registered investment adviser's cash payment to a person is being made solely to compensate that person for soliciting investors for, or referring investors to, an investment pool managed by the adviser will depend upon all of the facts and circumstances of the particular case. The most pertinent facts and circumstances generally will be those relating to the nature of the arrangement between the soliciting/referring person and the investment adviser, the nature of the relationship between the investment adviser and the solicited/referred person, and the purpose of the adviser's cash payment to the soliciting/referring person.

The SEC staff stated that the Cash Solicitation Rule would not apply to a registered adviser's cash payment to a person for referring other persons to the adviser where the adviser manages only investment pools and is not seeking to enter into investment advisory relationships with other persons, and the adviser's cash payment, under the adviser's arrangement with the referring person, compensates the referring person solely for referring the other persons to the adviser as investors or as prospective investors in one or more of the investment pools managed by the adviser. In contrast, the Cash Solicitation Rule would apply if the adviser manages or seeks to manage investment pools and individual accounts, is seeking to enter into investment advisory relationships with other persons, and the adviser's cash payment, under the adviser's arrangement with the referring person, compensates the referring person for referring the other persons as prospective advisory clients.

Despite the additional guidance provided by the interpretative letter, investment advisers will need to continue to be mindful of potential traps for the unwary when entering into solicitation agreements. For example, a person's receipt of cash compensation from an investment adviser of an investment pool for soliciting investors may result in the person being considered a “broker” under Section 3(a)(4) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Also, although a solicitor will not be required to provide prospective investors with the investment adviser's written disclosure statement specified in Rule 204-3 under the Advisers Act if the Cash Solicitation Rule does not apply to the relevant solicitation arrangement, the solicitor may generally be required by Section 206 of the Advisers Act to disclose to prospective investors material facts relating to conflicts of interest arising from the solicitation agreement.

Canada's Sceptre Hires NY Hedge Fund Manger

New York-based Fairfield Greenwich Group ("FGG"), a $16.6 billion global hedge fund and fund of hedge funds management firm has formed a cooperative venture with Sceptre Investment Counsel Limited, one of Canada's leading independent money management firms to provide alternative investment solutions to Canadian institutional and high net worth investors.

"FGG manages some of the industry's finest funds of hedge funds and other alternative asset products." Richard L. Knowles, Sceptre's President and CEO said, "We believe that Sceptre's clients will understand the great value that FGG brings to the table, and that they will have considerable interest in the outstanding hedged products to which they may now gain access through this new relationship."

"We are excited to be working with Sceptre in Canada. For more than 25 years, FGG's expertise in manager selection, due diligence, and risk management has benefited our investors." David B. Horn, Partner and Chief Global Strategist of FGG commented, "We have great confidence that Sceptre's extensive network of investors will appreciate the quality and diversity of FGG's platform of products, and the institutional investment and risk management with which we support it."

Sceptre manages client assets of $9.5 billion, utilizing a broadly diversified investment approach. Originally founded as an institutional fund manager, Sceptre has broadened its expertise to include both retail and private client portfolio management. Sceptre manages segregated and pooled fund portfolios for pension and other savings plans of corporations, government sponsored funds, universities, unions, charitable foundations, endowments and reserve funds of insurance companies.

Hedge Fund Used As Case Study At Stanford

Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business is using a hedge fund, GlobeOp Financial Services, in a business model case study developed for classroom.

The case study, ‘GlobeOp: Enabling Hedge Funds, 2000-2003,’ emphasizes just how vital a robust operational and technology infrastructure is in a constantly evolving and highly competitive market.

“GlobeOp exemplifies the strategic value of cutting-edge technology in an entrepreneurial, global organization." Professor Glenn R. Carroll, who led the study, said, "This is exactly the kind of new firm that our students want to learn about and will work in. We are gratified that they opened their doors to us."

“We are honored to be the focus of this study, which we hope will provide students with useful insight into the vision, team commitment and plain hard work it takes to establish a business for growth and long-term success." Hans Hufschmid, CEO of GlobeOp said.

The initial case study documents how GlobeOp identified and targeted an opportunity and then defended its market position by effectively managing growth and stabilizing the organization. It includes GlobeOp’s strategic decision to establish a significant presence in India to optimize scalability and time zones, and subsequently provide its global client base with comprehensive 24/5 service. The study also discusses GlobeOp’s responses to market opportunities, client demands and resourcing challenges, which paralleled financial technology innovations and the expansion of its client base from hedge funds to funds of hedge funds.

The second part of the Stanford case study, documenting GlobeOp’s history from 2003 to the present, is in development. GlobeOp grew from a small core team of 20 people to a business employing more than 400 people serving 82 hedge fund clients representing more than $26 billion in assets under management (AuM). Today GlobeOp employs 1,700 people worldwide and serves more than 155 clients representing $102 billion AuM.

Pop Quiz

1. Approximately how much work is undertaken by women and girls globaly?

A. one half
B. two thirds
C. one fifth

2. Women generate how much of the worlds income?

A. less than 5% of the global income
B. less than 10% of the global income
C. less than 50% of the global income

3. Women's labour produces?

A. all the worlds food
B. half of the world's food
C. a third of the worlds food

Answers:

1. B. two thirds
2. A. less than 5% of the global income
3. B. half of the world's food

Worlds Largest Hedge Fund Manager BGI Opens Dubai Office

Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has opened an office in the United Arab Emirates' Dubai International Finance Centre. BGI has been active in the region since 1998 and currently has assets under management of US$ 28 billion in area.

The office, which is co-located with Barclays Wealth and Barclays Capital, will principally address the growing needs of the region's institutions - including Government sponsored pension and social security funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), Central Banks and High Net Worth individuals and families.

"The new office is a strategic development for BGI's Middle Eastern business relationships." David Semaya, Chief Executive, Barclays Global Investors Europe & Asia, said, "We are seeing investors in the region becoming more demanding in their investment strategies."

BGI's iShares, including its three recently launched Sharia'ah compliant funds, will primarily address the retail market. Islamic finance is a $400bn industry, growing at a rate of over 15% per annum.

BGI is the world's largest asset manager with over $2.0 trillion in assets under management. BGI's funds include hedge funds and fund of funds as well as index and active equities and bonds funds.

Swiss Bank Picks Up On Electronic Trading Used By Hedge Funds

A Swiss Bank has picked up on a hedge fund platform, Orc Trading, to replace key technology for its electronic trading operations. The order was booked in Q1 2008.

"We have thoroughly evaluated several trading systems providers and chose to go with Orc Trading for its combination of speed and stability," said Thomas Kurzen, Head Trading Technology at InCore Bank AG. "We also appreciate the high quality of Orc’s supporting organization and the great potential for growth offered by Orc’s open architecture.

While the new trading solution is initially intended for proprietary trading only, the Swiss bank plans to add new functionality, such as Orc Broker for its sales desk operations. Other future opportunities investigated by the bank include using extended connectivity for incoming and outgoing order flow with access to multiple international markets, as offered by the Orc Connect framework.

Orc Software is a provider of solutions for the financial industry in the areas of advanced derivatives trading and low latency connectivity. Orc’s customers include leading investment banks, trading and market-making firms, exchanges, brokerage houses, institutional investors and hedge funds. Orc Software is next exhibiting at Screen Events in Amsterdam, September 25.

InCore Bank AG is the first independent Swiss corporation with a banking and securities dealer license and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Maerki Baumann Holding AG.

Two New Additions To BNP Paribas’ Hedge Fund Team

BNP Paribas has appointed Thomas Mahala and Jason Miller to its global hedge fund relationship management team (HFRM). BNP Paribas now has over a dozen relationship management professionals located in New York, London and Hong Kong serving the interests of global hedge fund clients.

"We look forward to Tom and Jason, two senior and highly respected hedge fund relationship management professionals, joining the global effort." Talbot Stark said, "BNP Paribas’s hedge fund business has benefited from its expanding global capabilities, financial strength and most recent acquisition of Banc of America’s prime brokerage unit".

Thomas Mahala joins the team in New York; he joins Chris Lane as co-head of HFRM in the Americas. Thomas joins from Banc of America Securities where he worked most recently as a Managing Director and head of the Capital Introduction group. Prior to this role he worked as a senior relationship manager for institutional accounts including hedge funds. Previously, he spent 7 years at Bear Stearns as a senior relationship manager for hedge funds. Thomas joins BNP Paribas with over 23 years of experience and successes in relationship management, prime brokerage and risk management.

Jason Miller joins the New York team to work as a senior relationship manager. He joins from Banc of America where he most recently worked as a senior relationship manager for hedge fund clients. Prior to that, he spent two years at Credit Suisse as a relationship manager for institutional securities relationships. Jason brings 16 years of experience from Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Citigroup in relationship management. He reports to Chris Lane and Thomas Mahala.

In 2008, BNP Paribas was named ‘Structured Products House of the Year’ by Risk magazine and in 2007, was named ‘Equity Derivatives House of the Year’ also by Risk magazine‘. North American awards include ‘North American Structured Products House of the Year’ by Structured Products Magazine and ‘Best Equity Derivatives house in North America’ by Global Finance magazine.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment banking division has almost 16,000 employees, deployed in 53 countries around the world.

Hedge Fund Manager Pali, Hires M&A Veteran In Expansion

Hedge fund manager Pali Capital has hired M&A veteran Randal V. Stephenson as a Senior Managing Director and Head of its new Corporate Advisory Group.

"Pali is in the midst of a major, global expansion,” said Brad Reifler, to whom Stephenson will report, "Since we are committed to providing world-class investment banking products and services, we see Randal as a vital part of our plan to build out a competitive mergers and acquisitions practice on a global scale. Randal has the right mix of skills and experience, and we look forward to working with him."

Stephenson will be based in New York and will lead the build-out of a mergers, acquisitions and corporate advisory practice to compliment a broader investment banking platform.

"Pali's core clients, hedge fund, are among the most active in the global deal market," said Mr. Stephenson, "and are eagerly searching for new opportunities to apply capital and achieve enhanced investor returns. I look forward to helping Pali build a world-class mergers and acquisitions practice that should have no equal in the middle market."

Mr. Stephenson is assembling a team of seasoned bankers with experience in distressed and special situation transactions, as well as cross-border M&A deal experience, particularly in Asia. The team’s services for Pali’s core client base of hedge funds and institutional investors include originating distressed and special-situation opportunities for equity or debt investment, helping funds seek strategic alternatives for underperforming portfolio investments, and assisting and advising in shareholder activism.

Prior to Pali, Stephenson was the Head of Middle Market Mergers & Acquisitions and the Head of Distressed & Special Situations M&A at CIT Group, Inc. Stephenson is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the bars of Massachusetts and New York.

Pali is an independent, global, full-service institutional securities firm and investment bank that has served leading hedge funds and money managers since 1995. The hedge fund manager is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Singapore, Boston and Minneapolis.

Morningstar Reports Low End to Quarter

In a summary of hedge fund performance for the second quarter of 2008, Morningstar, Inc. marked June as a bad end to a good quarter. The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index fell 0.73% during the month, pushing down second-quarter returns to 2.07%. Year to date, the index is up only 0.31%, as hedge funds struggled through poor market conditions.

Overall, hedge funds, including funds of hedge funds, buffered the traditional stock and bond markets over the second quarter. Equity and bond markets saw losses all over the world, while the Morningstar Fund of Hedge Funds Index gained 1.43%. Over the last year, the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index and the Morningstar Fund of Hedge Funds Index outperformed the major global stock indexes, which experienced double-digit declines (with the exception of emerging markets). Both hedge funds and funds of hedge funds underperformed bond markets, however, over this same period.

“Equity markets suffered steep declines in June,” said Morningstar hedge fund analyst Nadia Van Dalen. “Volatility returned to levels not seen since March, amid fears of recession and rising inflation. Most hedge funds are not immune to these economic shocks, despite what their name might imply.”

There were significant exceptions. Over the last 12 months, the Morningstar Global Trend Hedge Fund Index, which tracks funds that profit from price trends in futures, options and currencies, benefited from the sharp rise in commodity prices, returning over 18% (3.28% in June). Funds in the Morningstar Global Non-trend Hedge Fund Index, those that take macro-economic bets on interest rates and currencies, benefited from the falling dollar and the rising Euro, earning 0.33% in June and more than 12% over the last 12 months. The last 12 months also saw high volatility. Those equity arbitrage funds that specialize in trading volatility helped drive the Morningstar Equity Arbitrage Hedge Fund Index to a gain of more than 8.57% in the last year and 1.12% in June.

Not surprisingly, these top-performing categories have also experienced the most inflows. For the period ending May 31 (asset flow reporting lags performance reporting), hedge fund investors poured more than $6 billion into global trend funds and $2.4 billion into global non-trend funds tracked by Morningstar. On the opposite end of the spectrum, investors fled the U.S. equity and Europe equity hedge funds in the Morningstar database, taking more than $7.7 billion and $6.9 billion out of these categories, respectively.

Morningstar’s hedge fund flow data also show that, through May, assets moved to the Morningstar-rated 4-, and 5-star hedge funds, and redeemed the 1-, 2-, and 3-star hedge funds. Four- and 5-star hedge funds received more than $10 billion in new assets through May, while 1- and 2-star hedge funds bled almost $10 billion in assets over the same period.

Returns of Morningstar’s Broad Category Indexes, indexes that group funds in related categories, highlight that the event-driven funds were the hardest hit. This index includes funds in the Morningstar Corporate Actions and Distressed Securities Categories, which sometimes take bets on depressed or out-of-favor companies, and look for a reversal over the longer-term. These bets may look worse before they look better, given the economic conditions.

Morningstar has approximately 8,500 hedge funds and funds of hedge funds in its database and is is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Editing By Alex Akesson

IRS Restricts Deduction of Fund of Funds’ Management Fees

In a recent IRS Revenue Ruling addressing the tax treatment of management fees incurred in a “fund of funds” structure, the IRS’s has severely restricted UPTs (upper tier partnerships) from obtaining tax benefits from management fees.

In a typical fund of funds structure, an investment is made by a limited partner into an UTP which in turn invests in several lower teir partnerships (LTPs). Both groups pay an annual management fee to an investment manager based on assets under management. Since each LTP was, on the facts assumed by the IRS, engaged in the trading of securities, the management fee is an ordinary and necessary business expense and can still recieve tax benefits.

However, the UTP’s sole activity consisted of acquiring, holding, and disposing of interests in the LTPs while receiving a share of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit, therefore ruling these fees non-deductable in most cases.

In the ruling, the IRS examined prior cases of entitlement to deductions and these cases also viewed the partner, even a limited partner, as engaged in the trade or business of the partnership.

HK Subprime Investments Cause Local Concern

The Hang Seng Index posted its biggest single-day loss in a month, as investors fretted about the recurring subprime credit crisis in the United States and its impact on regional banks and other financials.

"It's a very bad day for financial markets across Asia. What's happening to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a clear indication of more troubles ahead in the mortgage market. What the U.S. Treasury is doing smacks of political desperation rather than genuine concern for the financial markets," said Benjamin Collett, head of hedge fund sales trading at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. in Hong Kong.

The U.S. Treasury also announced plans to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, further fuelling fears that the subprime crisis may have intensified.

While Chinese banks are sound and have very little exposure to subprime, the market is trading very short term and the selloff in the financial sector is just an extension of the overall market moves." Collet said.

The Hang Seng Index lost 3.8 percent, closing at the lowest since March 20.

DanFonds Launches Frontier Hedge Funds

A Copenhagen based Cayman fund, DanFonds, is trying a novel approach to the hedge fund market by launching its ‘Frontier Markets Fund’, a hybrid between the public market hedge fund approach and the private equity model.

In a press call with Alex Akesson on Friday, CEO of DanFonds, Daniel Broby referred to 'peak oil', and the 'commodity super cycle' and also how the writing off of debt by the Paris club have opened the market for frontier funds.

"What we are seeing is generational change; the industrialisation of the final countries that had been left behind." Broby said, "These are not markets for the faint hearted. They are corrupt, illiquid and difficult to access. On the other hand, that is compensated for by the risk premium and the expected returns."

With a philosophy of 'Globalisation is just an extension of industrialisation' and that 'frontier markets are the next emerging markets', their website says that frontier markets are at the very edge of the investable public securities universe.

However, there is potential for high return. With a combined market capitalisation of around $1.7 trillion, frontier markets are in the early stages of development and growing towards entry into the emerging markets indices.

"You either believe in the opportunity or you do not. We don't try to convince investors. We mearly structure the best way to capture that opportunity." Broby concluded.

When asked to comment on the new fund launches, Broby's staff responded, "200 years ago California was a frontier market." said Alexandra Hayles, Country Analyst.

While Klaus Jeppesen, Head of Risk commented, "traditional risk models just don't work in these countries. You have to start with a blank spreadsheet." "There are plenty of opportunities in Francophone Africa. You just have to know where to look for them." Brice Beumo, Director of DanFonds finished.

Danfonds operates from two locations in Denmark, its operational offices in the center of Copenhagen and its registered offices in Martofte. It has also established access to offices in selected frontier market locations using the facilities of Regus Worldwide.

Hutch on the Park to Reopen

Hugh Hefner has reportedly signed an agreement with Agilo, the London hedge fund that owns a Sports Cafe on Haymarket in London’s West End according to the TimesOnline.

The Playboy Club in the capital is reportedly set to open in 2010 to offer gaming at roulette wheels and blackjack tables. The original Playboy club on Park Lane in Mayfair was closed 27 years ago after a police raid over suspected gambling irregularities, despite no subsequent evidence of wrongdoing.

“We are looking for opportunities around the world. London will be logical for us. We had some very good years there,” Times Online quoted Dick Rosenzweig, executive vice-president of Playboy and Hefner’’s right-hand man, as saying.

Playboy could win its licence in as little as two months after applying if it meets all the requirements.

The former London club opened opposite Hyde Park in 1966, six years after the first Playboy Club was launched in Chicago. For 15 years, the London club, on five floors, was a welcome distraction from worries such as the IRA, strikes and riots.

"Nicknamed "the Hutch on the Park", the London venue's clientele included actors Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Joan Collins, and footballer George Best, who married former bunny Angie MacDonald-Janes.

The club was run by Victor Lownes, an American who became the highest-paid executive in Britain. Lownes, now 80, married Marilyn Cole, a former playmate of the year. He said: "It was a huge success and ran like a dream. We had a discotheque in the basement, several restaurants, a VIP room and a casino with roulette and blackjack. The average bunny lasted two years and then married a millionaire.

Jeff Georgino, Playboy's senior vice-president, said: "We are actively looking at locations which are on the market in London. We would love to get a casino licence ... It all depends on that."

FRM Hires Award Winning Hong Kong Manager

Global fund of hedge funds (FOHF) group Financial Risk Management ('FRM'), has hired Au King-lun, MH, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer of FRM Hong Kong.

"The firm has long been known for its strength in serving institutions and for its deep expertise in hedge funds." Dr Au said, "Asian investors are increasing allocations to hedge funds because of the absolute, uncorrelated returns and flexible investment strategies they can offer. FRM is in a strong position to deliver performance and products for this important and growing investor base."

With offices in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia, the new Hong Kong office is an effort to expand business efforts in Japan and Korea.

Dr. Au will join in September from HSBC, where he has been working for the past 11 years, most recently as Head of Institutional Business in Asia Pacific.

FRM opened its Hong Kong office in May 2008, building on its significant presence in Asia, including offices in Tokyo and Sydney, opened in 2000 and 2001 respectively. As one of the largest independent fund of hedge fund groups, FRM manages over $15 billion in assets for institutions and other sophisticated investors, including approximately 300 pension funds worldwide.

Dr. Au currently serves as Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Institute and is a previous Chairman of the HK Investment Funds Association. In July Dr. Au was awarded the Medal of Honour (MH) by the Hong Kong SAR Government for his valuable contributions to the securities and asset management industry.

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo LLC
Email: alex@hedgeco.net

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Hedge Fund Man Group Shows Positive Product Return

Global Hedge fund Man Group has increased their assets under management from $74.6 billion at 31 March 2008 to $79.5 billion at 30 June 2008.

"Demand for our fund products has remained strong, both from private investors and institutions, with sales in our first quarter to 30 June 2008 totalling $5.0 billion." Jon Aisbitt, Chairman of Man Group said in a statement, "This success in asset raising reflects the Group's broad geographic presence and the continued attraction of conservatively structured alternative investment products."

Overall product performance was positive, with AHL, Glenwood, Man Global Strategies, and RMF all showing positive returns. Redemptions for the three months to 30 June 2008 totaled $2.5 billion, of which private investor were $1.5 billion.

Man is one of the worlds largest alternative investment management business, originaly founded in 1783, Man is now ranked in the top 40 companies of the FTSE 100 Index with a market capitalisation of about $20 billion.

Activist Hedge Fund Told To Cease and Desist

A preliminary injunction has ordered two officers of activist hedge fund Costa Brava Partnership III LP of Boston to cease and desist, refraining from all contact with former, current and future auditors of Telos Corporation.

Costa Brava officers, Andrew R. Siegel and Seth W. Hamot, who sit on Telos' board of directors, were accused of making repeated threats of litigation against the company's last two independent auditors. Both auditors resigned their engagements with Telos as a result of the conduct of Hamot and Siegel even though neither auditor had found fault with Telos on any accounting issues.

The actions were seen by Telos as tactics to break up the company on order to secure redemption of their public preferred stock.

In his order, Judge Matricciani also wrote that "Telos is likely to demonstrate that their (Hamot and Siegel) conduct was not just wrongful, but unlawful." The judge stated that the communications of Hamot and Siegel with Reznick may have violated Sarbanes-Oxley section 303 and SEC Rule 13b2-2, "providing another basis for liability for tortious interference with business or economic relations."

Attorneys for Hamot and Siegel have said they will file an appeal of the preliminary injunction with the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Hedge Funds Back MEVIO

Hedge funds Sequoia Capital, Sherpalo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and DAG Ventures were led by Crosslink Capital in investing $15 million in entertainment network MEVIO.

Adam Curry, co-founder and president of MEVIO. "MEVIO is building a full-scale entertainment network that incorporates all of the positive elements of traditional media along with the benefits of scale and insight offered by the Internet."

"The first wave of online video was a total failure for brand advertisers," said Ron Bloom, co-founder and chief executive officer, MEVIO. "In order to attract the billions of dollars of brand advertising spending that is still dedicated to television programming, online companies will have to provide audience and frequency at a scale to compete with traditional broadcast, and build it around brand-safe content that is relevant and entertaining. MEVIO is building that network."

In May of 2008, the company attracted over 9 million unique monthly visitors, up over 800 percent in the last twelve months. For the second quarter of 2008, MEVIO estimates page-views to exceed 140 million, up over 1,800 percent quarter over quarter. With the launch of its vertical entertainment networks, the company is exploring syndication opportunities that management believes will dramatically enhance MEVIO's already impressive reach.

Report: SA Hedge Funds Growing

A Hedgeweek Special Report for March 2008 reports the strengthening of the South African hedge fund industry from just a handful of funds with aproximately ZAR1.4 billion ($0.18 billion) in as recently as mid-2002, to more than 130 funds with at least ZAR26 billion ($3.35 billion) in assets under management in the last five years.

In the report by Simon Gray, he says, "Industry members predict that the current soaring growth rate will be maintained for some time, pointing to plentiful capacity available in existing funds and a level of allocation to alternative assets which remains well below those in other markets."

The constrictive rules governing the South African hedge fund industry has constrained investors from investing in alternatives in Africa, Gray reports, instead, investors have focused more on Asia and Latin America.

Gray predicts that factors are set to change to the benefit of South African managers, many of which are now developing the extended track records of success that conservative institutions are looking for.

"The industry is becoming broader and more sophisticated as established asset managers launch alternative products, and the dominance of equity long/short and market neutral strategies gradually diminishes while the asset share of multistrategy funds soars." Gray concluded.

Hedgeweek was launched in October 2002 and is part of the London-based Hedgemedia group, founded by financial publisher Sunil Gopalan and internet entrepreneur Oliver Bradley. Hedgeweek now reaches over 3,000 senior executives at hedge fund companies and investor groups worldwide.

GLG's Hiring Spree

Soon after the scheduled departure of several senior traders and executives was announced, hedge fund GLG Partners has begun hiring new experts to fill in the gap.

Experts such as as Galia Velimukhametova, Fabrice Bay, and most recently Driss Ben-Brahim, a star Goldman Sachs emerging markets trader. He is to manage and hopefuly expand GLG's $1.2 billion special situations portfolio.

Galia Velimukhametova is to join the hedge fund's London office as a Portfolio Manager. With extensive background in the area, Galia will focus on distressed situations. Galia joins GLG from King Street Capital, where she was a Managing Director and Member of the European Investment Committee.

Fabrice Bay was previously a Managing Director at DWS/Deutsche Asset Management in Frankfurt, his significant experience in managing global long-only and 130/30 portfolios will play an important role in driving forward GLG's offerings in these areas, according to GLG.

As of March 31, 2008, GLG manages a net AUM (assets under management) of over $24.0 billion. GLG's capital appreciation strategies target long-term capital appreciation through diversified portfolios of global equities and bonds.

Since its inception in 1995, GLG has built on the roots of its founders in the private wealth management industry to develop into one of the world's largest and most recognized alternative investment managers, while maintaining its tradition of client-focused product development and customer service.

Verify

Northern Trust to Manage Auda Hedge Assets

New York based fund manager, Auda Hedge LLC has selected Northern Trust to provide fund administration, custody, banking and foreign exchange services to its fund of hedge fund program, with assets in excess of US$1 billion.

In January 2008, Northern Trust announced a worldwide exclusive partnership with youDevise to provide enhanced fund of hedge fund data to the fund of hedge fund community via the Hedge Information Provider ("HIP") system.

"Funds-of-hedge-funds have become the route chosen by many institutional investors when accessing hedge funds." Wilson Leech, head of Northern Trust's Global Fund services group said, "By fully integrating HIP onto Northern Trust's global platform we will be able to deliver an enhanced reporting capability and reduce operational risk, enabling our clients to make decisions faster and more effectively."

The HIP is an online portfolio management system developed specifically for funds-of-hedge-funds. It considerably improves the timeliness of information that funds-of-hedge-fund managers receive from underlying hedge funds regarding hedge fund holdings, current value, performance, liquidity and hedging, as well as a detailed breakdown of assets and transactions. HIP makes it possible for funds-of-hedge-fund managers to see portfolio management data daily that, historically, was only available monthly.

Where Northern Trust's UK entities undertake regulated business, they are authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority.

Interest Rates Top Swiss DMX Alternative Investment Indice

The DMX, Directional Markets Index, heads the list of investable Alternative Investment Indices provided by Alternative-Index Ltd, with a month-to-date performance of +0.71% and a stellar year-to-date performance of +16.61%. DMX is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

The best performing sector for the DMX was the Interest Rates sector with a month-to-date attribution of +0.62%.

The DMX outperformed its peer, the FTSE Hedge Directional Index month-to-date by 2.13% (0.71% vs. -1.42%) and year-to-date by 21.42% (16.61% vs. -4.81%). The DMX also outperformed the MSCI Systematic Trading Index year-to-date by 12.17% (16.61% vs. 4.44%). The DMX's performance surpassed the HFRX Market Directional Index's performance month-to-date by 1.22% (0.71% vs. -0.51%) and year-to-date by 15.67% (16.61% vs. 0.94%).

Alternative-Index Ltd. is an Index specialist and provides investable Indices that represent the risk and return of investable alternative strategies and asset classes. The company is a 100% subsidiary of Swiss Alternative Investment expert Salus Alpha Group AG.

Dynamic Launches an Array Of Hedge Funds & FOHFs

Dynamic Funds ("Dynamic") has announced the launch of two global growth funds, the Dynamic Power Global Navigator Class and Dynamic Power Global Balanced Class.

The fund manager also launched a hedge fund of funds, the Dynamic Alternative Opportunities Fund, giving retail investors access to a basket of the Company's hedge fund products. Dynamic Alternative Opportunities Fund has the ability to invest in Dynamic hedge funds and closed-end funds, as well as externally managed hedge funds, private funds and other investment vehicles not generally available to the investing public.

"Dynamic Power Global Navigator Class is a go anywhere, do anything global growth fund," says Alexander Lane, VP and Portfolio Manager, "It offers investors exposure to global stocks with the safety profile of larger companies and the higher return profile of smaller companies."

The initial portfolio of the Dynamic Alternative Opportunities Fund will be composed of an approximately equal allocation of seven Dynamic hedge funds; the Power Hedge Fund, Alpha Performance Fund, Contrarian Fund, Power Emerging Markets Fund, Income Opportunities Fund, Strategic Value Fund, and Focus+ Alternative Fund.

The Dynamic Funds are managed by Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Ltd., a subsidiary of DundeeWealth Inc. DundeeWealth is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Report Forecasts Funds Of Hedge Funds To Dominate European Market

According to a new report by DataMonitor, 'Hedge Funds in Europe 2008', the European hedge fund market is going through a period of growth but the extent of the mortgage-backed security crisis is still uncertain.

The report forecasts strong growth in funds of hedge funds over the next year, with less demand for single hedge funds according to 65% of asset managers in Europe.

Asset managers in Spain and Italy believe most strongly that the demand for funds of hedge funds will outstrip that for single hedge funds, followed by France, Germany and finally the UK.

Across the five core economies in Western Europe - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - institutional investors now dominate the market for hedge funds. On average, slightly more than two-thirds of asset managers confirmed that this group represents their biggest customer segment for hedge funds today.

40% of asset managers in Italy say mass market investors may also be put off by the price of hedge fund investment. In Spain, on the other hand, demand from mass market clients is being limited by competition from capital-protected and structured products and inadequate promotion of hedge fund products by banks and advisers.

DataMonitor, a provider of online database and analysis services for key industry sectors, has put out the report presenting views on the market for hedge fund investment based on a survey of 100 leading asset managers across Europe.

Covering mass market, high net worth and institutional customer groups, 'Hedge Funds in Europe 2008' is part of a series of reports looking at the market for alternative investments in Europe.

Investcorp's Emerging Hedge Fund Talent Fund Raises $2 Billion

Investcorp's hedge fund co-managers said they have raised over $2 billion for their Single Manager Platform. Debuted in 2005, the platform supports emerging talent in the hedge fund industry.

Deepak Gurnani, managing director and co-head of hedge funds said, "Reaching the $2 billion milestone is a testament to the quality of the managers who have partnered with us."

"We've tailored the program to the interests of sophisticated institutional investors that want to diversify their hedge fund holdings by including the industry's rising stars in their portfolios," Ibrahim Gharghour, managing director and co-head of hedge funds added.

Investcorp provides between $50 million and $100 million in seed capital to the managers along with support for marketing and ongoing risk monitoring to avoid style-drift and other operational concerns. Investcorp's hedge funds team of more than 100 professionals oversees approximately $8 billion in assets under management, of which approximately $2 billion is proprietary capital.

The Single Manager Platform is part of Investcorp's larger suite of hedge fund solutions, which includes fund of funds, customized portfolios and structured products. Today, it has more than 30 institutional investors in the platform, which comprises six managers with a range of investing strategies.

The six managers currently in the program are Cura Capital Management, a fixed income relative value manager based in New York, Interlachen Capital Group, a multi-strategy firm based in Minneapolis, Silverback Asset Management, a convertible arbitrage focused management firm based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Stoneworks Asset Management, a global macro investment platform based in London, Washington Corner Capital Management, a distressed and credit-based investment platform based in Florham Park, New Jersey and WMG Asia, an Asian long/short equity strategy management firm based in Hong Kong.

Hank Murphy is the head of development for the Single Manager Platform.