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31 Aug 2007

Cayman Island Hedge Fund Bankruptcy Decision on Hold

Judge Burton Lifland of the southern New York court recently announced his decision regarding the bankruptcies of two Bear Stearns Cayman Island hedge funds, Lifland said that he is keeping the funds' assets out of creditors' reach for another ten days, during which he will weigh whether to grant them Chapter 15 protection.

"The only adhesive connection with the Cayman Islands that the funds have is the fact that they are registered there," Lifland wrote in a ruling in New York, noting that most assets were originally in the U.S.

The insolvent funds were first granted the preliminary injunction on Aug. 9 by effectively halting any pending lawsuits in the U.S.

"There are no employees or managers in the Cayman Islands, the investment manager for the funds is located in New York, the administrator that runs the back-office operations of the funds is in the United States along with the funds' books and records, and prior to the commencement of the foreign proceeding, all of the funds' liquid assets were located in the United States," Lifland wrote.

The two funds bet heavily on subprime mortgage loans and as defaults increased, creditors began to clamor for their collateral, leaving the funds short on cash.

According to an AP report, provisional liquidators working to unwind the funds in the Caymans estimate that the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Master Fund could see recoveries of $25 million, and the smaller High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Master Fund could see recoveries of less than $50 million.

29 Aug 2007

Hedge Funds Care Raise $40K For Children

The Hedge Funds Care Committee of Hope raised over $40,000 last week to support the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. At the 2nd Annual No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament, more than 100 players and equally as many spectators watched as the final 15 players in the tournament received valuable prizes, all of which were donated thanks to the efforts of Keith Friedman (Iron Financial).

The Grand Prize, donated by Horseshoe Casinos, was a trip for two to Las Vegas, including airfare and a three night stay at the winner’s choice of Caesar’s Palace, Paris or Rio (Harrah’s hotels).

The event was sponsored by the Junior League of Chicago, on July 19, 2007 at Joe’s Sports Bar in Chicago, and was underwritten by the 2007 Committee of Hope Sponsors.

The Other prizes included: Orbitz air travel certificates, an Apple iPhone donated by Sheffield Asset Management, Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox and Cubs tickets, a spa package and shaving sets from 316 Club Barber Spa, a Harley Davidson for a Day compliments of Signature Days, and a Swiss Calibre men’s watch donated by Trader Monthly. In addition, the top 10 finishers each received a huge gift basket compliments of Horseshoe Casinos.

The tournament started with 11 tables of approximately 10 players each, and ran smoothly thanks to help from a crew of mini pit bosses and bank attendants.

The Committee of Hope is a Midwest Chapter committee comprised of young professionals in the hedge fund and alternative investment industry. The committee hosts two annual fundraisers, as well as quarterly happy hours to inform the local hedge fund industry about Hedge Funds Care and the programs it supports.

28 Aug 2007

Iraqi Hedge Fund Escapes Market Turmoil

Iraqi hedge fund `The Babylon Fund´ announced today that they successfully managed to steer away from the general global financial meltdown seen lately.

Babylon's winning streak continued during July (and further into August) with a rise of 3,8% in the Babylon Fund's NAV-price.

Of the hedge fund's direct Iraqi holdings, bond yields steered higher upon a combination of dried-up flow and risk aversion factors partly based upon the perceived weakened state of the government whose success might be seen as being indirectly linked to the bond payment stream.

On the other hand, in the ISX stock market in Baghdad, prices rose strongly, as did value and volumes traded, as participants positioned themselves ahead of foreigners' entrance into the ISX, which was allowed as of 1st of August.

According to a statement, Babylon's aim is to provide long-term capital growth from an investment portfolio consisting of Iraqi and Iraqi-dependant securities. The investment process is mainly top-down driven, with a mix of fundamental analysis and portfolio diversification characteristics, aiming to be regarded as an easy, safe and efficient Gateway towards investing into the region.

Babylon Fund is an open-ended mutual fund that primarily invests into large-cap Iraqi-dependant securities, mainly listed on the stock exchanges both in Iraq and in other countries.

27 Aug 2007

Hedge Fund Company Launches Real Estate Marketing Tool

Hedge fund backed Terablitz recently announced the launch of Terabitz Home Snapshots, which, according to the company, "Give the real estate professional an innovative solution that enables them to more effectively build their client base, and help those clients buy or sell a home.

California-based Terabitz was founded in 2006 by father and son Ashfaq and Kamran Munshi. The company is funded by Tudor Capital, part of the Tudor Hedge Fund family.

Home Snapshots combine the traditional listing information with slide shows, neighborhood and market data, and dozens of other “bitz” of local information relevant to the property. Essentially, they create a “home page” for each property or neighborhood with which consumers can interact. Home Snapshots can be emailed, instant messaged, linked to on blogs or websites, and dynamically updated, making the entire experience richer and more collaborative.

“Home Snapshots represent the first of many Terabitz solutions that will drive the success of our broker partners,” said Ashfaq Munshi, CEO of Terabitz. “We offer superior technology that helps brokers acquire and retain top agents, while continually improving their performance. We are thrilled to be working with such a high-caliber partner like Intero who exemplifies excellence and innovation in the industry.”

Intero Real Estate Services is the first broker partner to utilize Home Snapshots, prominently displaying thousands of its property snapshots on Terabitz.com.

Brokers can easily publish their existing MLS listings as Home Snapshots by simply providing Terabitz standard content feeds.

Terabitz is an online resource for consumers evaluating a real estate transaction. Property listings, neighborhood highlights, local market data, and local service providers can be accessed, stored, and shared and after the property transaction.

Islamic Financial Services Board Hosts Forum

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) of the Bank for International Settlements today announced the presentation of "The European Challenge" it will be the 2nd Forum on Islamic Financial Services.

The forum will be held on the 5 & 6 of December, 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany. Deutsche Bundesbank is supporting the Forum.

The 2nd "European Challenge" has been organised in response to the increasing interest shown in Islamic financial services within and among European nations. The Forum will touch on the overview of the Islamic financial services industry as well as the different approaches towards it's implementation across the globe.

On a more global perspective, the Forum will also serve as a platform to discuss the development of related global prudential regulations for the Islamic financial services industry developed by the IFSB in comparison to Basel II.

Secretary General of the IFSB, Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, commenting on the importance of holding a Forum that caters to the European market said "It is important for the IFSB to understand the different regional markets in our efforts to facilitate the sound and stable growth of the Islamic financial services industry at global level. This Forum aims to be an interactive platform for facilitating a better understanding of the Islamic financial services industry from a European perpective."

The Forum follows the success of the inaugural one which was held in Luxembourg in November 2005. The 1st Forum was supported by the Centrale Banque Du Luxembourg and attended by over 150 delegates from 26 countries.


This one is expected to attract participants from among senior supervisors, finance officers, financial analysts, compliance officers, accountants, auditors, retail and private bankers, investment advisors, lawyers and academicians.

Australian Hedge Fund Up $20 Million

HFA Holdings, an Australian hedge fund manager that manages more than $3 billion, announced a surge in annual profit, and says the outlook is very positive.

Paul Jensen, cheif Executive at HFA, said the outlook for the company remained positive despite recent equity market volatility. Annual profit was $20.3 million, up 288%, while normalised profit, excluding one-offs, was up 157%.

HFA, which listed on the Australian stock exchange in April 2006, said the result beat its prospectus forecast guidance of a $13.9 million profit, by 46%. The hedge fund manager also announced that they plan on reopeninf two of their funds for investment in the first half of fiscal 2008.

The strong result reflected continued inflows into its hedge fund products, plus two capital raisings during the year. The declining share price forced HFA to postpone an estimated $700 million cash-and-scrip takeover of US counterpart and long-time investment partner Lighthouse Investment Partners.

HFA previously told the market that it had taken short positions on the US sub-prime mortgage market and was therefore benefiting from the crisis, but that hasn't stopped its shares falling from $3.00 on July 25 to a low of $1.65 on August 15.

With offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and executives based in Perth and Hobart, HFA is a specialist funds management company providing absolute return fund products to retail, wholesale and institutional investors throughout Australia.

22 Aug 2007

TS Launches Second Fund After First Success

Single manager hedge fund ThinkStrategy Capital Management LLC. today announced the launch of the TS Multi-Strategy Fund LP Class B.

The new class is an unleveraged version of an existing and successful TS Multi-Strategy Fund LP Class A and will be based on a concentrated subset of TS's current investments from which we selected the best performers. This share class exhibits lower risk parameters in terms of standard deviation, as well as stronger Sharpe ratios.

This new class will add to TS's record in the preservation of capital while producing positive investment returns in all economic environments with the goal of producing consistent returns for investors.

ThinkStrategy Capital Management, LLC. is an alternative asset management firm, which aims to provide innovative investment strategies which generate consistent solid rates of return for investors with low levels of risk.

13 Aug 2007

Hedge Fund Sponsors North Pole Swim

Investec announced today that British explorer and endurance swimmer, Lewis Gordon Pugh successfully completed the extraordinary challenge of being the first man to swim at the Geographic North Pole.

The 1km swim took 18 minutes and 50 seconds in freezing temperatures of minus 1.8º centigrade –the coldest waters a human has ever swum in – and was conducted in accordance with Channel Swimming Association Rules in just Speedo briefs, cap and goggles. It took place at 02.00 on July15th (it’s daylight all hours).

Pugh’s endeavour, sponsored by Investec and named The Investec North Pole Challenge, was made to visibly demonstrate the devastating impacts of climate change on our planet.

Lewis Gordon Pugh, nicknamed the Polar Bear, said: “I hope my swim will inspire world leaders to take climate change seriously. The decisions which they make over the next few years will determine the biodiversity of our world. I want my children, and their children, to know that polar bears are still living in the Arctic - these creatures are on the front line up here.

“I am obviously ecstatic to have succeeded but this swim is a triumph and a tragedy - a triumph that Icould swim in such ferocious conditions but a tragedy that it’s possible to swim at the North Pole.”He described the swim: “The water was absolutely black. I shook Jørgen Amundsen’s hand and then plunged into the sea. It was like jumping into a dark black hole. It was frightening. The pain was immediate and felt like my body was on fire. I was in excruciating pain from beginning to end and I nearly quit on a few occasions. It was without doubt the hardest swim of my life.

Hendrik du Toit, Chief Executive Officer of Investec Asset Management said, “We congratulate Lewis on this milestone achievement. We hope this world first today will inspire people to take the battle against climate change seriously. It would be wonderful if in 50 years time,an 87-year-old Lewis were once again able to walk, rather than swim at the North Pole.

Investec Asset Management is a specialist investment manager, the fund manages in excess of $60 billion on behalf of third party clients. Investec is based in the UK and Southern Africa with an international client base from the Americas, Europe, Asia the Middle East and Africa.

9 Aug 2007

Hedge Funds July Performance

According to a report from Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc., hedge funds globally returned 0.49% in July. The gain, based on a sample of managers among the 6,500 surveyed, brought the average 2007 advance to 8%.

Macro-fund managers, who wager on trends in stocks, bonds and currencies worldwide, trailed peers in July with a 0.34% increase, bringing their returns to 5.9% on the year.

Early estimates from the HFN Hedge Fund Aggregate Average show +0.29% in July, the increase was the 2nd positive month in a row for hedge funds when the S&P 500 has been negative and 12th positive month in a row overall. Through the first seven months of 2007 the Aggregate is +7.65%, considerably outperforming the S&P 500 Total Return which ended June -3.10% and +6.01% YTD.

The influence of the difficulties facing subprime borrowers and lenders over the last few months began to be felt across most credit markets in July and filtered into equity markets near month's end. While there have been some high profile fund meltdowns in July, the reality of the hedge fund world is that despite their visibility, these funds under extreme stress represent a small percentage of a vast and diverse industry.

Whether when the dust settles the aggregate of all hedge funds is slightly positive or negative, the focus should be on the continuing significant outperformance of the group from broad equity markets. While results are still coming in, it appears performance in July was driven by funds with exposure to emerging markets and those able to take advantage of strong interest rate and commodity moves. The HFN Emerging Markets Average was +2.47% in July and is +14.51% YTD and was aided by strong moves in China, India and Russia's equity markets. The HFN Latin America Average was +2.49% in July and +19.81% YTD.

All Business Schools Launch Finance Career Resource Guide

With investment banking giant UBS forecasting the world economy to grow about 3.5 percent each year and rapid proliferation of multi-billion dollar hedge funds and private equity funds, All Business Schools announced the launch of it Finance Career Resource Guide. With pages devoted to both specific finance career paths and different types of finance degrees, the guide provides crucial information for those considering a career in one of the fastest growing and most lucrative industries.

Doug Rosenberg, product manager for All Business Schools, commented, "With job options ranging from high-tech, high-status investment banking to personable, interactive financial planning, there are a number of ways people can take advantage of the industry's consistent growth."

Finance salaries are among the highest in the business world, Rosenberg elaborates, saying, "finance is one of the few fields in which the earning potential is almost limitless."

To give readers a clear look at both aspects of entering a career in hedge fund finance, the resource center is organized into a finance degrees section and a finance careers section. The degrees section presents an overview of finance bachelor's, master's, MBA and PhD degrees, providing basic facts and sample program curricula. The careers section discusses finance careers at a general level and also breaks down three of the most popular finance careers--investment banking, corporate finance and financial planning--into career path charts that present a snapshot of entry-, mid- and high-level positions.

All Business Schools is a comprehensive online publisher of accredited business degree programs and business career resources. Since 2002, All Business Schools has been helping match millions of highly qualified prospective students with the schools that best meet their education needs.

2 Aug 2007

Austrailan Funds Suffer Losses

Australia's Macquarie Bank this week warned retail investors with positions in two of its high yield investment hedge funds are set to suffer losses of up to 25 percent. In comes as the U.S. sub prime mortgage market continues to weaken with Macquarie predicting related losses of up to $300 million.

According to Macquarie Fortress Investments director Peter Lucas, the average price of assets in the portfolio has dropped by 4 percent in the last month. Macquarie Bank follows Basis Capital and Absolute Capital as investment firms caught up in the U.S. mortgage crisi, Macquarie Bank produced record earnings in 2007.

Macquarie is the third Australian institution to flag possible losses as spooked investors have marked down the value of credit assets, with potential losses magnified by borrowings.

However, yesterday Macquarie spokeswoman Lisa Jamieson said that the bank's earnings won't be affected after Macquarie Fortress Investments Ltd., which had $873 million in two funds, was forced to sell assets to avoid breaching loan agreements.

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

1 Aug 2007

Hedge Funds Thriving In Europe

Hedge funds are thriving in Europe, thanks to increased interest from pension funds and other institutions, both European and U.S. Regulatory changes that have made it easier for such investors to put money in alternatives.

The 50 firms in the Alpha Europe Hedge Fund 50 ranking collectively managed about $300 billion as of December 31, 2006, nearly 21 percent of the global hedge fund industry's then $1.46 trillion in assets.

The Alpha Europe Hedge Fund 50 has seen its asset totals soar since 2006. A year ago, no European firm managed close to $15 billion in single-manager hedge fund assets -- this year, three firms have more than that, led by Barclays Global Investors. BGI's $18.95 billion narrowly tops Man Investments, No. 2 with $18.8 billion in single-manager assets. At No. 3, with $15.83 billion in assets, is GLG Partners, led by former Goldman, Sachs & Co. partners Noam Gottesman and Pierre Lagrange.

For the first time in the four-year history of Alpha's Europe Hedge Fund 50 ranking, each of the top ten firms are headquartered in London, cementing the city's position as the hedge fund capital of Europe. To be included in this year's ranking, a firm had to have more than $2 billion in hedge fund assets.