G7 Meeting Calls for Closer Monitoring of Hedge Funds

The two-day G7 meeting in Essen concluded with a call for the monitoring of hedge funds worldwide and urged talks with the industry. They said energy efficiency and diversification, particularly renewable forms, remains an economic priority. They also reiterated concerns about volatility in foreign exchange markets.

The G7 is comprised of official representatives from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States. The group released their conclusion that the world's major developed economies show solid growth, but foreign exchange fluctuations, the rising power of hedge funds and dwindling energy supplies are a concern.

"We are confident that the implications of these developments will be recognized by market participants and will be incorporated into their assessment of risks," the statement said, which was released after the G-7 participants ended their two-day meeting.

"Given the strong growth of the hedge fund industry and the instruments they trade, we need to be vigilant," the statement added, also saying that the group will talk with the private sector and hedge fund operators and would ask the Financial Stability Forum to update its 2000 report on hedge funds.

Investcorp Launches Early Stage Fund for Hedge Fund Investors

Investcorp, the global asset manager specializing in alternative investments with a $5 billion hedge fund program, has announced the launch of the Investcorp Early Stage Fund.

Early stage funds are typically set up by experienced money managers who have recently left other hedge funds or investment banks, or by managers who have existing hedge funds and are launching a new vehicle to focus on different strategies.

The initial portfolio will be composed of approximately 15-20 managers with targeted returns of 12-14% with annualized volatility of 5-7% over the medium term. The fund offers quarterly liquidity with a one-year lock up period.

Deepak Gurnani, Managing Director and co-head of the Investcorp Hedge Funds program said: "The Early Stage Fund is a unique investment opportunity which provides access to promising early stage funds, while minimizing the potential issues investors face in investing with such funds. Investors will have the benefit of immediate diversification, with quarterly liquidity and an anticipated attractive return and volatility relationship over the medium term."

Since 1996, Investcorp has invested with more than 50 hedge funds within the first 12 months of their launch and now manage approximately $1 billion in early stage investments.

SEC slammed over hedge fund 'wealth' test

Everyone, from politicians to the press, both here and abroad, has been shrieking in increasing apocalyptic terms about the myriad dangers that big, bad hedge funds pose to poor, small investors. Why not protect those poor, small non-accredited and presumably unnatural people from themselves? Heh, here are some answers from those "unnatural people"



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F&C To Launch Global Hedge Fund

F&C Asset Management announced on Monday that they are launching a global diversified fixed income hedge fund, called the F&C Tourmaline fund.

The hedge fund is to be run by a team of three, Sanjay Joshi, Rabbani Wahhab and Mario Nicolaou, and quantitative analyst Shilen Shah. They hired the team of fixed income hedge fund managers from London & Capital.

Last month F&C had announced their interest in expanding their hedge fund presence, saying they had plans to increase their investments in hedge funds.

"This is an important development for F&C Alternative Investments and a mark of F&C's ambition to grow our hedge fund presence. We will continue to actively look for further opportunities," Fernando Ribeiro, head of investments, said in a note.

At the end of last month shares in F&C fell heavily after the firm said it would rebase its 2007 dividend to allow increased investment in higher-margin new products.

F&C Management Ltd is a European investment house quoted on the London Stock Exchange with €154.6 billion (over $200 billion) under management and offices throughout Europe.

Hedge Fund Head Ordered to Pay Back $20 Million

The SEC released the details of the fines U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell ordered against hedge fund manager Kirk Wright yesterday. Pannell ordered nearly $20 million in fines and penalties for defrauding investors through his hedge fund, International Management Associates LLC.

The judge entered a default judgment against Wright ordering the repayment of $17 million, interest of $2.7 million and an imposed a civil penalty of $120,000, the SEC said in the statement.

Wright's hedge fund came under scrutiny eventually for it's unusually consistent high returns, vague descriptions of investment strategies, aggressive marketing, no auditing, and secretive behavior by the manager.

From 1997 through early 2006, Wright raised as much as $185 million from 500 investors through a "fraudulent scheme" involving seven hedge funds that he managed through IMA, the SEC said in a lawsuit filed a year ago.

Wright was also spending too much for his funds, it was noted, a lavish wedding reception, the $55,000 engagement ring his bride wore, the entertainment suites at Atlanta Falcon football games, Atlanta Hawk basketball games, concerts, a Bentley, a Jaguar, an Aston Martin, a BMW, and a Lamborghini, and as proof of his investment returns, only photocopied spreadsheets.The firm also sent out quarterly statements misrepresenting the amount of money in those funds and their performance.

Wright was arrested in May on mail-fraud charges, He's in an Atlanta detention center awaiting a criminal trial related to the 21 counts of mail fraud and three counts of securities fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

Original story; Fake Hedge Funds Cost Investors Millions

Hedge Funds & Oil Predictions

OilandGasStockNews.com, an investor and industry news portal released the oil and gas trends predicted for hedge funds this year.

In the ‘Insiders Corner" Michael Brush said "Investors had big bets on energy stocks, but now that crude oil has fallen 9% this year and 30% since last summer, hedge funds are heading for the exits. Is there any end in sight?"

Predicting the cold weather trends that have set in, the Insiders Corner also reminded investors of other factors, besides the weather, that support higher energy prices including “Tensions in the Middle East”, but the eerily warm weather in much of the U.S. is about to "turn on a dime," predicts AccuWeather.com forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Michael Brush, author of “Lessons From the Front Line”, is an award winning financial writer that writes a weekly market column for MSN Money as well as the ‘Insiders Corner’ for InvestorIdeas.com Mr. Brush has also covered business and investing for the New York Times, Money magazine and the Economist Group.

As far as where oil is currently trading, Eden Energy Corporation President and CEO Don Sharpe comments, “We expect oil prices to strengthen throughout the remainder of the year as geopolitical risks reemerge due to actions in Nigeria, Iran and other volatile parts of the oil producing world."

OilandGasStockNews.com is a global investor and industry research portal for the oil and gas sector.

Hedge Fund Makes Over $83 Million Off YouTube Sale

The numbers are in, Google revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission just how much the hedge fund investors, founders and early employees of YouTube made when it was bought by Google for $1.65 billion last year.

Artis Capital Management, a San Francisco hedge fund was co-investor with Sequoia Capital, the venture capitalists that took a chance with the tiny YouTube project. Artis and several other hedge funds affiliated with them were listed as having received 176,621 shares, valued at $83 million.

Sequoia Capital invested close to $11.5 million in You Tube, is now listed as owning 941,027 shares, which are valued at more than $442 million. The filing also lists Sequoia Capital XI Principals Fund owning 102,376 shares, valued at more than $48 million, and Sequoia Technology Partners XI with 29,724 shares, valued at nearly $14 million. A total of $504 million.

The company's three founders also made extraordinary amounts, YouTube's chief executive Chad Hurley received shares worth more than $345 million. Another founder, Steven Chen, received shares worth more than $326 million. The third founder of YouTube, Jawed Karim, who left the company early on to pursue a graduate degree in computer science, received more than $64 million in shares. Some of these shares have been deposited in trusts for the young founders.

SEC Examines Hedge Fund Tip-Offs

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether hedge funds are being tipped off about buy and sell orders placed by mutual funds.

The Federal regulators that are conducting the probe, have asked approximately 10 major Wall Street banks for trading information from the last two weeks of September 2006, at the close of the third quarter.

It's become difficult for hedge fund managers to make money without access to sensitive information, so the SEC examiners will try to determine whether big buy and sell orders placed with the banks by mutual funds in that period triggered any suspicious front-running activity in those same stocks by hedge fund managers or other traders.

Lori Richards, director of the SEC's Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations, confirmed that her office was looking into the matter. "We're always concerned about information leakage in the market which could harm investors," she said.

Details of the investigation first appeared Tuesday in the New York Times, which said that the SEC request for information had gone out in mid-January.

Kennedy Closes Deal With Hedge Fund for 119 Hurricane Struck Homes

Trinity Development Partners along with equity partner Stillwater Capital Partners, a NY-based hedge fund, closed a $23.3 million deal with private lender Kennedy Funding for a waterfront real estate purchase in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The loan comes after back-to-back Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne pounded the area relentlessly in 2004, and Hurricane Wilma added further damage in 2005, turning the 30-story dream community into a nightmare of a business deal for the 119 homes involved.

The hedge fund partners cosed the $23.3 million deal with Kennedy Funding of Hackensack, NJ, borrowing the funds for a complete renovation. Jeffrey Wolfer, President and Co-CEO of Kennedy Funding said, "With this many unique and unusual circumstances, a loan like this wouldn't meet the criteria of traditional lenders.......That's why it's called situational lending-we consider each situation individually and evaluate it as such.

Stillwater Capital Partners is a provider of alternative investment services with over $600 million in assets under management. The hedge fund performs independent research that provides the potential for clients to preserve and grow their capital using a risk-controlled approach to investing.
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Ethically Minded Investments & Hedge Funds

Growing concerns over issues such as global warming have meant that more investors are looking for an ethically minded fund, especially one that makes a profit.

An innovator in ethical investing is Charlie Thomas, head of Jupiter Asset Management, a Citywire AAA-rated hedge fund. Thomas has defied skeptics by proving environmentally friendly investing can produce strong returns in what was a relatively muted year for global fund managers.

Last year the average hedge fund manager return was 8.1%, way below the average gain of 26.5 percent in 2005. However, Thomas' hedge fund Jupiter, returned 27.8% on the Jupiter Ecology fund last year, bringing the hedge fund's assets under management to around $436 million.

Thomas, who has been a member of Jupiter's socially responsible investment team since 2000, has a background steeped in environmentally responsible behaviour. Prior to joining Jupiter, he worked for BP as an environmental policy adviser and also worked on the United Nations environmental programme.

He told Citywire: "I look for opportunistic companies which are addressing environmental change." Especially productive was his investment in the organic market, he said, "it is gaining momentum as more and more people want organic, high quality products." He screens stocks on six green investment themes: clean energy, sustainable living, green transport, waste management, environmental services and water management.

Thomas recently told Citywire he was heartened by news the European Commission wants to make its recent proposals on energy security and climate change, including a proposal to cut CO2 emissions by a least 20 percent, legally binding in 2020.

While this isn’t the usual criterion on which most investors make decisions, according to Standard and Poor’s, this ethically minded hedge fund has made a bid-to-bid return of 82.87% against the sector average of 48.88% over the three years to 2006.

German Finance Minister Takes A Closer Look at Hedge Funds

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck will push for more oversight of hedge funds at this week's G7 meeting in Essen, Germany. In particular, Steinbrueck wants banks to disclose to regulators how much money they lend to the hedge funds, it was reported by Spiegel magazine.

Germany would like greater control over the highly speculative funds in the interests of the international financial system, and has promised to make this a priority of its G8 presidency. Germany is at the core of the euro single currency zone and the European Central Bank is building a huge new headquarters in Frankfurt.

Major German corporations have adeptly ridden the wave of globalization and exports continue to soar even during 2006 with the euro hitting near-record highs against the dollar.

Steinbrueck has been a Social Democrat for more than 35 years, he began his political career in the federal Ministry of Construction in 1974, and has since been riding high as finance minister, having presided over a cut in Germany's budget deficit to bring it in line with the eurozone's strict fiscal target for the first time since 2001.

Former Head of Hedge Fund Faces 20 Years For Fraud

John H. Whittier, the former head of Idaho hedge-fund company Wood River Capital Management LLC has been indicted on criminal charges that he engaged in a securities fraud scheme that allegedly cost investors $88 million. The SEC originally filed civil charges against Whittier and WRC back in October 2005. Whittier could serve as much as 20 years on each count.

Whittier has been charged with securities fraud, failure to disclose a beneficial interest in 5% or more in a publicly traded security and two counts of failing to disclose a beneficial interest of 10% or more in a publicly traded security.

Prosecutors alleged Thursday that Whittier, from fall 2004 to September 2005, schemed to defraud investors in the company's U.S.-based Wood River Partners LP and Cayman Islands-based Wood River Partners Offshore Ltd. hedge funds by acquiring beneficial ownership of more than 70% of the common stock of EndWave without disclosing that ownership as required by the SEC.

The government said Whittier also accumulated beneficial ownership for the Wood River U.S. fund and other managed accounts of more than 20% of the common stock of New Jersey digital media and publishing company MediaBay Inc. without disclosing that ownership as required by the SEC.

Prosecutors alleged that Whittier falsely represented to investors that the funds had a broad investment strategy and no investment would ever constitute more than 10% of their holdings, he also falsely represented to investors that the U.S. fund was audited by outside auditors.

Ex Morgn Stanley Employee Pleads Guilty In Hedge Fund Conspiracy

Ira S. Chilowitz, former employee of the brokerage firm Morgan Stanley & Co has pleaded guilty to four counts relating to the theft of information regarding hedge funds, conspiracy, transportation of stolen property, theft of trade secrets, and unauthorized computer access. He faces a total maximum sentence of 26 years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of $850,000.

Chilowitz was charged with conspiracy and unauthorized computer access, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in July of last year.

Federal prosecutors charged Ira Chilowitz with stealing the confidential pricing information from Morgan Stanley’s hedge fund prime brokerage group and passing it on to a “co-conspirator’’ at a midtown company that provides advisory services to hedge funds.

From about December 2005 until about February 2006, Chilowitz conspired with another individual, who was a former Morgan Stanley client service representative, to misappropriate the Client Rate List and to transmit it, via e-mail to his partner. Morgan Stanley provides financial and administrative services to numerous hedge funds and the data in the Client Rate List is not generally known to the public and is valuable to competitors of Morgan.

Chilowitz admitted in court during his guilty plea that he took the confidential and proprietary information from Morgan Stanley because it would potentially assist him in generating business for a consulting firm they had planned to launch.

Hedge Fund Care Award Gala

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is to be Special Guest at the 9th Annual Hedge Funds Care New York Open Your Heart to the Children Benefit. The Hedge Funds Care Award for Caring will also be awarded this year at the gala event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York. The benefit is taking place on February 8th, 2007.

Pelosi, long a champion of children's rights, will be joined by two devoted advocates for the rights of abused, neglected and at-risk children: Michael Vranos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ellington with assets under management of over $21.7 billion. Mr. Vranos was cited by Global Finance magazine as one of the world's 600 most powerful people in finance, and Shari Shink, Founder and Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center.

The flagship event will be chaired by Mitchell Lieberman of Goldman Sachs and Michael Tannenbaum of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP. The three individuals being honored represent the very ideals Hedge Funds Care was created to serve. Each has displayed a commitment to the rights of children and families through their work in government, philanthropy and children services.

For more information on the hedge fund event visit; http://www.hedgefundscare.org/2007/ninth-annual-northeast-open-your-heart-to-the-children-benefit/

MARHedge Holds Hedge Fund Conference In San Francisco and Switzerland

MARHedge is holding the 13th Annual Institutional Investment Conference, April 15–17 in San Francisco. The conference is designed to assist investors in exploring hedge fund strategies that can be employed to meet their investment objectives. MARHedge boasts a highly interactive agenda, including focused panels and workshops, that thoroughly examines the expanded role for hedge fund vehicles in institutional portfolios.

The majority of the speakers are investors and investment consultants, who will offer practical and implementable information and suggest ways to help protect capital, increase diversification of the portfolio and generate alpha.

MARHedge/Institutional Investor plans to delve deeply into the practical issues of using hedge funds and funds of hedge funds to meet investment objectives by accessing new talent and new opportunities. Some of the key players in the hedge fund industry will be attending, according to a statement, and there will be time for interaction with colleagues and peers during cocktail receptions and dinners throughout San Francisco.

MARHedge is also presenting the Institutional Investor 12th Annual European Conference On Alternative Investments on February 5 - 7, 2007 at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland.

Man Investments Announces Fund Launch

Hedge fund Man Investments announced the launch of a new fund in the Man MGS Access Series 2 Ltd.

The fund will be offered in two bond classes, both targeting a moderate level of 8-10% annualised volatility. The USD bonds will aim for annualised returns of 13-16% and EUR bonds will target annualised returns of 11-14%.1 Investors will also benefit from a capital guarantee from Citibank, N.A., London Branch2, and a profit lock-in feature3.

Only managers that are highly-rated by Man Global Strategies (‘MGS’), a core investment manager of Man Investments, will be considered for inclusion in the portfolio, comprised of about 15 hedge funds. MGS has negotiated favourable terms with these managers, several of which are closed to new investors. These terms include increased levels of reporting, the flexibility to adjust the amount of money invested with the manager.

“The quality of the managers in the Access portfolio and the high level of transparency that we have into their daily operations gives us the confidence to offer such a concentrated and dynamic portfolio,” said Antoine Massad, Chief Executive of Man Investments Middle East. “This has allowed the structuring experts at MGS to develop a product that offers the potential for strong capital growth and diversification with the security of a capital guarantee.”

Man MGS Access Series 2 Ltd will be open for investment from 29 January 2007 to 12 March 2007. The minimum subscription being $50,000, with the maturity date being 31 May, 2019.

Man also announced a new hedge fund product, Man-IP 220 Plus Series, Series 3 was launched earlier this year, and raised over US$ 430 million, a new record for Man's guaranteed products. Series 4 aims to generate strong profits for hedge funds in falling as well as rising markets, performing independently of stocks and bonds.

Hedge Funds Examine Airline Merger

Delta Air Lines is planning a reorganization of its business plan, including a possible merger that is said would improve service, but is being scrutinized by hedge fund shareholders.

US Airways has offered to buy Delta in an $8.4 billion bid, and Delta has the option to sell before Feb. 7th when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York holds a hearing on Delta’s disclosure statement.

The group of unsecured creditors that are questioning the merger is made up largely of hedge funds holding billions of dollars in claims. The hedge fund team said in a statement that they "look forward to analyzing carefully and discussing with Delta the proposed plan and the assumptions upon which it is based however..... it expects Delta to consider alternatives to its proposed stand alone chapter 11 plan to ensure that creditor recoveries are maximized."

The Unofficial Committee of Unsecured Claimholders includes 18 hedge funds and investment management companies that hold $2.35 billion worth of creditors’ claims against Delta and its subsidiaries. The hedge fund team was formed in Dec 06 and is represented by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

On Jan. 10, the hedge fund group called on Delta to allow US Airways to postpone the Feb. 7 disclosure hearing so that the proposal could be fully evaluated. Other creditors, such as those on the unofficial committee, could pressure larger creditors to force Delta's hand. If approved, the statement will be submitted to a vote of all creditors.

SEC Reviews New Hedge Fund Rules

The Managed Funds Association, the main lobbying group for hedge funds, has urged regulators to increase the minimum investment for hedge funds as an alternative to tighter oversight. The proposed new rules are now up for review before the SEC.

This proposal would define a new category of accredited investor that would apply to offers and sales of securities issued by hedge funds and other private investment pools. The number of households permitted to invest in hedge funds would be reduced by 88% if the change takes effect, according to SEC economists. Under the proposal, only investors worth $2.5 million or more, about 1.3 percent of U.S. households, would qualify.

The proposal, which is open to a 60-day public comment period, also prohibits using the value of a primary home to meet the requirement. The increased investor standard will only apply to hedge funds and not to private companies that rely on other exemptions of the federal securities laws.

Christopher Cox, the current SEC chairman, said in December that the SEC's proposed rules "do a much better job of assuring that individuals investing in private funds are likely to have the knowledge and the sophistication that's necessary."

The Bank of New York Tops $100 Billion in Hedge Fund Assets

The Bank of New York has surpassed the $100 billion mark in hedge fund assets under administration, reflecting rapid growth in the bank's focus on hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, multi-strategy hedge funds, and European- based hedge funds.

In the last five years the Bank has grown hedge fund assets under administration from $16 billion to $100 billion and last year posted a 41% increase in assets under administration. The Bank has also experienced significant growth in the average fund size and number of hedge fund structures serviced as part of a strategic focus on building long-term relationships with the leading industry funds.

"We have posted consistently strong organic growth in our hedge fund administration business by customizing our core operational and technology expertise to meet the unique needs of the industry," said Brian Ruane, executive vice president at The Bank of New York. "With institutional demand for hedge funds expected to triple by 2010, we are uniquely positioned to serve this burgeoning industry through hedge fund administration and a variety of other securities services."

Global institutional demand for hedge funds will increase from $360 billion currently to more than $1 trillion by 2010, according to a recent study of leading institutional investors, investment consultants and hedge funds by The Bank of New York and Casey, Quirk & Associates LLC. Retirement plans globally will account for the vast majority of asset flows.

In addition to hedge fund administration, the Bank offers accounting, cash management, collateral management, custody, trust, asset management and private banking services to the hedge fund industry.

The Bank of New York Company, Inc. has a global array of services that enable institutions and individuals to move and manage their financial assets in more than 100 markets worldwide. Its principal subsidiary, The Bank of New York, founded in 1784, is the oldest bank in the United States and has consistently played a prominent role in the evolution of financial markets worldwide.

Silver Creek Hedge Fund Hires New Director

Silver Creek Capital Management LLC, a leading manager of funds of hedge funds with approximately $6.5 billion in assets under management, today announced that Steven H. Bloom, founder and Managing Partner of Sagamore Hill Capital Management LP, has joined the firm as Senior Managing Director.

In this role, Mr. Bloom will oversee Silver Creek’s Early Advantage Fund, a multi-manager fund that invests in emerging hedge fund managers, and will assist with all aspects of the firm’s investment process. Based in Silver Creek’s New York office, Mr. Bloom will also be a senior member of the firm’s investment committee.

“We are very excited to bring someone of Steve’s caliber on to our investment team,” said Eric E. Dillon, co-Founder and Managing Member of Silver Creek. “We look forward to leveraging Steve’s deep industry knowledge and broad experience to identify uniquely promising emerging hedge fund managers.”

Mr. Bloom has extensive experience in hedge fund management. He was the founder and CEO of Sagamore Hill Capital Management LP, previously a multi-billion dollar multi-strategy global hedge fund, where he was the head portfolio manager, responsible for overall fund management and the development of numerous fundamental and arbitrage investment strategies.

Silver Creek is a fund of hedge funds management firm with offices in Seattle and New York, whose team has been managing funds since 1994. Silver Creek manages a variety of multi-manager investment products designed to deliver superior, risk-adjusted, absolute returns.