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."