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.

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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.