The investment scandal at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ compensation escalated as Gov. Bob Taft purged one of his high-ranking employees for keeping him out of the loop about a $215 million loss in the months leading to the presidential election.
Friday was James Samuel’s final day in the governor’s office, said Mark Rickel, Mr. Taft’s press secretary. “He made a very critical mistake in not passing along information on the size of the MDL loss,” Mr. Rickel said. Source
MDL fees higher than 1st reported
In the course of losing $215 million in a hedge fund for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, MDL Capital Management withdrew even more money in fees than previously reported — $1.69 million, according to state records. The amount of fees paid to the Pittsburgh-based investment firm is substantially higher than earlier bureau reports of approximately $700,000 and later $1.01 million in fees. All told, MDL received $2.14 million from the bureau in 2004. {literal}Source{/literal}
From Theglobeandmail.com: Boaz Manor, the embattled co-founder of Portus Alternative Asset Management Ltd., has allegedly misappropriated $3.1-million (U.S.) worth of investments from the hedge fund and used a large chunk of this money to pay his Israeli lawyer, according to a report filed yesterday by the company's court-appointed examiner.
In its sixth report on the Portus scandal, KPMG LLP claimed that Mr. Manor attempted to "obfuscate" the flow of funds at Portus by setting up a complex web of companies in various offshore tax havens, which are well-known for their secrecy. Source
Portus didn`t invest $52.8m in customer funds
Bloomberg reports Portus Alternative Asset Management, a Canadian hedge fund whose co-founder is being investigated for fraud, didn't invest about $52.8 million that it received from customers and about $17.6 million is missing, KPMG LLP said in a court filing. Source
KPMG says Portus founder Boaz Manor should return $3.1M US, account for $17.6M
From Cbc.ca: The receiver in the Portus Alternative Asset Management fiasco is going to court in an attempt to force the hedge fund's co-founder to return $3.1 million US and to account for $17.6 million US in investor funds that have not been secured.
Portus, co-founded by 20-something Boaz Manor, collapsed in March amid investigations of its sales and compliance practices by securities regulators who had frozen its operations in February. Manor has refused to return from Israel to be examined by investigators, citing illness. {literal}Source{/literal}
From iialternatives.com: The EUR300 million pension fund for the Dutch agricultural wholesale sector, Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Agrarische en Voedselvoorzieningshandel, is in the final stages of hiring its first alternatives managers. {literal}
Source{/literal}
Bloomberg reports Bailey Coates Cromwell Fund, a London- based hedge fund with $1.3 billion at its peak in 2004, will close after losing 20 percent this year, the second fund in a week to call it quits. It is “in the interests of partners to be given the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their interests before the fund is placed in formal liquidation,” its manager, Bailey Coates Asset Management LLP, said in a June 17 letter to investors. Investors, known as partners, will get most of their remaining money in July, the letter said. Last month they said they would keep Cromwell open despite losing 20 percent in the first four months of the year….Full article: {literal}
Source{/literal}
From the Independent.co.uk: One of London's leading hedge fund managers is bracing itself to repay investors around $1bn after dreadful performances at two of its main funds. GLG Partners, which only a few months ago came close to selling its business to Lehman Brothers for over $2bn, is under pressure after it was caught out by a collapse in two specialist areas of the capital markets.
The fund group saw a 14.5 per cent drop in the value of its $1bn Credit Fund and a 9 per cent fall in its $2.5bn Market Neutral fund in May. It wrote to investors in the Credit Fund apologising for the performance. However, this has not stopped investors moving money from GLG, according to well-placed market sources. It is estimated that about $1bn has been withdrawn from its funds. Full article: {literal}Source{/literal}
From a Reuters Comment: "A few people will reconsider their investment focus," said Magnus Olsen, head of hedge fund investing for London-based London & Capital, a fund of funds. Still, he said "we're not at all in one of the worst periods." "Over the last ten years, there have been various periods of flat or negative returns, but it's not unusual," Olsen added. The worst period, he said, was during the Russian debt crisis and the collapse of famed hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998, which drove hedge fund indices down 10 percent, said Olsen.
Other industry experts agree hedge funds aren't likely to lose their appeal as an asset class any time soon. "Indications are that the industry has the capacity to double from where it is today, with most people saying by 2010," said Charles Gradante, managing principal of hedge fund tracker Hennessee Group.
But Gradante said much of the hedge fund asset growth will depend on rising equity markets, which cause mutual fund assets to swell and allow them to allocate more assets to alternative assets like hedge funds. Full article: {literal}Source{/literal}
From the FT/ News.moneycentral.msn.com: Comparing the current hedge funds to “ageing Mexican outlaws” struggling to survive around 1913, this article maintains “The old way of life is dying fast.”: While the industry will probably double in size over the next five to 10 years, the total number of hedge funds could shrink from the 8,000 or so now to about 4,000 – and there won't be many cowboys left.
…Some cowboys will meet violent ends in this volatile and crowded arena. Many more will simply fade away, either getting merged into bigger funds or closing up shop, deciding that this new world doesn't resemble the world that lured cowboys. Running money can be thrilling; running an asset-management firm can be tedium. ..This doesn't change the fact that they will become an even more dominant force in the markets and in finance over the next decade. It simply means they are now institutions, not outlaws…Full article: {literal}Source{/literal}
In an interview in the (London) Sunday Times, Hector Sants, managing director of wholesale and institutional markets at the FSA, states that the City regulator is now proactively targeting institutions that it believes participate in market abuse:
It has been going on for years, but experts have noticed the problem worsening in the past 24 months. This has led the regulator to suspect that it is not individual wrongdoers they should be targeting, rather major investment banks and hedge funds. Officials at the Financial Services Authority believe that the landscape has been changed by the extraordinary growth of hedge funds and by proprietary trading at the investment banks, which inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the market each day. As a consequence, insider trading is now institutionalised.
..Hector Sants, managing director of wholesale and institutional markets at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator, is under no illusions about the size of the task, but in his first interview since being appointed last year he said he was determined to stamp out institutional market abuse. Source
FSA spends GBP15m to update its computer surveillance programs fighting market abuse
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is spending GBP15 million to update its computer surveillance programs to counter what the regulator has identified as institutional market abuse. The FSA is tendering for a supplier to upgrade its Sabre computer system, which monitors trading done in the City. The upgrade will make it easier for firms to report their dealings to the regulator and will provide more sophisticated tools to detect wrongdoing. {literal}Source{/literal}
From Reuters.com: Pension funds should be administered by the government, leaving fund managers to manage the money, Richard Saunders, chief executive of the Investment Management Association, said last week. Saunders said in his keynote speech to the IMA's conference that a public/private partnership would be a key way to move the pensions issue forwards.
“Some of our early estimates suggest that a scheme of this sort could result in new flows for the industry of 10 billion pounds a year. There would be very real benefits for all in such a public/private partnership, but most important of all for people working towards a comfortable retirement, We've been suggesting this since 1997. People should have a single pensions account that is administered by the government. The retail pensions industry is so fragmented and inefficient that this would really cut down the administration costs… {literal}Source{/literal}
FRC announced that it has begun research for three new in-depth studies
covering distribution in the European fund industry: In 2004, FRC published
Measuring Distribution Costs in European Retail Asset
Management, which attracted the participation of 15 leading firms across Europe. This year’s
research will involve a similar number of participants. Invitations to participate in the research were circulated in the industry this week — several firms have already signed up to provide data. Their input will generate three studies to be released in the second half of 2005:
- Measuring Distribution Costs in European Fund Asset Management 2005: The Sales and
Marketing Investment Required to Build a Successful Third-Party Fund Business
- Comparing Sales Processes in European Fund Asset Management 2005: The Structure and
Processes Used by Successful Sales Teams in the Third-Party Fund Business
- Measuring Distribution Costs in German Fund Asset Management 2005: The Sales and
Marketing Investment Required to Build a Successful Third-Party Fund Business in Germany
Magnus Spence, director of European research for FRC, said, “FRC is now the leading
commentator on the sales and marketing function in Europe. These studies will provide
participants with a very important tool for measuring and improving their effectiveness.” Contact
magnus.spence@frcnet.com No online Source
From Albawaba.com: Daman's Arabian Programmed Trading Fund rose 3.46% in its Net Asset Value (NAV) to US$106.48 on May 31, 2005 from US$102.91 on April 30, 2005. The first Gulf risk managed fund designed and tailored for the GCC market has posted a year to date growth of 6.48% following its launch in late March, 2005.
So far during its 47-month life, the UAE Value Fund has registered 42 months of growth versus just 35 for the benchmark NBAD Index. During 2005, the Fund has registered a year to date growth of 78.35%. Since inception, the Daman UAE Value Fund has recorded nearly 400% return on investment. {literal}Source{/literal}
Dow Jones/Yahoo report Singapore based hedge fund Aman Capital Management said Monday it has still not closed operations, refuting an earlier report in the
Financial Times (click to access article) that the company was closing down.
"We have not shut down yet" Mayur Ghelani, director at Aman Capital, told Dow Jones Newswires in a clearer statement about the company's current status. Earlier Monday Ghelani didn't comment on the FT report, but said the company has been fulfilling since April all commitments to its shareholders of a US$240 million hedge fund. In May, local media reports said Aman Capital had lost tens of millions of dollars through trading derivatives. Source
Singapore hedge fund Aman to close after losses
Reuters reports one of Singapore's biggest hedge funds is closing down and returning money to investors after suffering losses in April, a senior official of the fund group said on Monday. Aman Capital Global Fund, a $242-million macro hedge fund taking bets on stocks, currencies and interest rates, lost nearly a fifth of its value in April and one of its main fund managers, Michael Syn, an ex-UBS derivatives specialist, left the company.
"The fund is no longer trading," said Mayur Ghelani, a partner at Aman Capital Management Pte Ltd, the fund's investment manager, confirming a report in the Financial Times. "The directors are taking steps to make distributions to shareholders," he added. {literal}Source{/literal}
Japan's Ministry of Justice has refused to amend a controversial bill that could cost international investment banks hundreds of millions of dollars, making it likely that the proposed law will be passed unchanged by the upper house of parliament this week, lawyers said. Yahoo reports that the move is a severe blow for the international business community.
The dispute is over article 821 of the commercial code, which deals with companies that do business in Japan but are incorporated offshore. Most foreign investment banks run their Japan operations through a branch but are incorporated elsewhere.
Approval in the upper house would, from April 2006, make so-called quasi-foreign companies illegal and force them to re-incorporate in Japan, a process that could take up to 18 months and trigger hefty administrative costs the EBC estimates at "hundreds of millions of euros". {literal}Source{/literal}
City intrigued as golden girl plots comeback: Robin Saunders burying Boxclever blues with a mega-deal
From the Guardian: Robin Saunders, the controversial City financier, is set to make a sensational comeback by announcing her first big deal since leaving the German bank West LB 18 months ago. She is working on a number of potential transactions 'and we are not talking tiddlywinks', says a City source. A large deal could be worth 'hundreds of millions', he adds. (Guardian)
Creditors lined up new management team for Eurotunnel
Creditors of Eurotunnel, dominated by American banks and hedge funds, have lined up a new management team to run the rail link as it teeters on the brink of collapse. (thisislondon.co.uk)
Dubai may set up $5b European portfolio
Dubai Investment Group (DIG), which is part of Dubai Holding, is planning to create a $5 billion securities and real estate portfolio in Europe, according to a report in a UK-based newspaper.
Citing DIG's Chief Executive Soud Ba'alawy, the London-based Times newspaper said the portfolio, focusing on real estate, hospitality, the finance and industrial sectors, would be primarily exploring the UK market. "The UK property market is always interesting. The UK is a financial centre with good long-term potential and there is always high demand," Ba'alawy was quoted by the paper. (menafn.com) No online Source
AlternativeSoft AG has enhanced, for the third time in 2005, its platform
for fund of hedge funds construction. For the first time on the financial
market, a software is able to give quantitative and qualitative ratings to
hedge funds and to deliver a final rating. The platform now includes:
Portfolio Construction
- Construct the fund of funds by minimizing the extreme negative returns and
out-perform the peers.
- Stress test your fund of funds during the major financial crisis.
- Simulate all your hedge funds or fund of funds during LTCM 1998 or Tequila
1994 crisis.
Hedge Fund Rating
- Style Analysis.
- Select the best hedge funds according the analysts qualitative ratings.
- Select the best hedge funds according to the software quantitative
ratings.
Return Forecasting
- Forecast the hedge fund index returns for the next 3 months and
out-perform your competitors.
Download the software for free, for 30 days from our website. Visit our
website:
www.alternativesoft.com, Email:
information@alternativesoft.com, Phone: London
+44 (0)207 510 2003, Zurich +41 (0)76 331 15 38.
London June 23 Dorchester Hotel – Limited enrolment course
Upgrade to state-of-the-art tools for hedge fund investment with expert practitioner and internationally acclaimed author François-Serge Lhabitant.
Attend this exclusive seminar and gain insight into the latest tools for implementing hedge fund programmes, controlling hedge fund risk, and measuring and reporting performance.
Topics covered in the course include:
- New sources of value for Fund of Hedge Funds (FoHF) and Hedge Funds (HF) programmes
- Reconciling alpha picking and style timing with a low-liquidity environment
- Advanced techniques for the optimal design of FoHF and HF programmes
- Using Value at Risk to measure risk and manage hedge fund portfolios
- Building a representative benchmark
- Applying state of the art tools for HF performance and risk attribution
Presented in a
practical and highly accessible manner, this course will help you to incorporate the latest results of alternative investment research into your management processes and keep abreast of the best industry practices.
François-Serge Lhabitant is head of investment research at Kedge Capital (London) and professor of finance at EDHEC Business School and the University of Lausanne. He is the author of the best-selling Hedge Funds: Myths and Limits and the recent Hedge Funds: Quantitative Insights.
For further information and registration, email: AIeducation@edhec.edu or call Mélanie Ruiz on +33 493.187.819. Download brochure and registration form
A lot of motion but no action? Get
infinite liquidity: Futures and Options on the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50SM Index.
Make your move NOW with Eurex, the world’s leading derivatives exchange:
www.eurexchange.com
Eurex US puts a new twist on U.S. Treasury Futures with the Jumbo 2 Year and – all new – 3 Year Treasury Futures!
www.EurexUS.com
Thursday, June 16, 2005 8:00 AM - 5:45 PM
InterContinental The Barclay (East 48th Street & Park Ave.), New York City
Master Class Sessions will feature:
Frank Fabozzi, Ph.D. CFA, Adjunct Professor of Finance at Yale University
Robert A. Jaeger, Ph.D., Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, EACM Advisors LLC
Clifford Asness, Managing Principal, AQR Capital Management
Maurice Maertens, Chief Investment Officer, New York University
Beth Snyder, CFA, Director, University of Virginia Endowment
Guy Wyser-Pratte, President, Wyser-Pratte & Co.
Charles Clarvit, Principal, Quellos Group, LLC
Sassan Alizadeh, Ph.D, Portfolio Manager, Highbridge Capital Management
Capital Introduction Roundtables featuring an eclectic mix of Funds:
Algert Coldiron Investors, LLC
Ampere Capital Management, LP
CastleRock Management
FORT LP
Henderson Global Investors
Mallet Capital Management, LLC
Narragansett Management, LP
Old Hill Partners, Inc.
Patagonia Argentine Recovery Fund
Pirate Capital, LLC
TUSK Capital Management
To Register, please contact: Jonathan Mistofsky, jmistofsky@imn.org, 12.901.0509
Event Director: Eliot Jacobowitz, ejacobowitz@imn.org, 212.901.0550
Attendance is strictly limited to those hedge fund investors invited and approved by IMN; there is no charge for Qualified Investor participation.
MARHedge Institutional Investment Conference
In partnership with Pensions & Investments
June 27-29, 2005 The Palace Hotel San Francisco, CA
MARHedge's Mid-Year Institutional Investment Conference June 27-29 in San
Francisco, presented in partnership with Pensions & Investments, will focus
squarely on the opportunities and challenges stemming from the influx of
institutional investors. How can funds and investors better communicate
with their constituents, and with each other? Who are the market leaders
of tomorrow? What strategies and markets are poised to explode?
Our investor-dominated speaker line-up includes Greg Kulka of the New
Mexico State Investment Council, Donald Pierce of the San Bernardino
County Employees' Retirement Association and Albert Hsu of Atlantic
Philanthropies.alongside keynote speakers Barry Rosenstein of JANA
Partners, John Chalsty of Muirfield Capital and Billy Beane of the Oakland
Athletics.
Pension funds and non-profits attend FREE. All Opalesque clients receive
15% off the normal delegate rate. Simply register today www.marhedge.com/conferences/sanfran/sanfran_reg.htm and please use "Opalesque" for your promo code. For more information, please contact Jeannie Lee (jlee@marhedge.com) at 646 274 6213.
This event is a must-attend for fund managers looking to better attract
and service institutional clients, as well as institutional investors
seeking to learn more about alternatives.
Alternative Investment News is delighted to present
The 3rd Annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards Dinner to be held at the Capitale Restaurant in New York City, on
June 29th, 2005.
This gala - held in conjunction with Institutional Investor's Spring Hedge Fund Investment Roundtable, June 28-29, 2005 - will bring together the hedge fund industry to recognize and applaud the achievements of their peers. The awards dinner will include key industry players - hedge fund managers, funds of funds, endowments, foundations, and corporate and public pension funds. To secure your sponsorship or table reservation, please contact:
Kendra Bahneman, 212-224-3239, kbahneman@institutionalinvestor.com
OR Nazneen Kanga, 212-224-3005, nkanga@iiconferences.com
Click here for more information and program
The Grand Hyatt, Singapore
Private Banking Asia 2005 will provide you with:
-
An information packed 3 day event featuring over 50 experts in the Wealth Management industry
- A unique networking opportunity bringing together the providers and distributors of high yield investment alternatives to the private banking and financial planning sectors of Asia
- A B2B forum that focuses on the retail needs of Asia's increasingly affluent society
- An environment dedicated to the promotion of retail financial management industry best practice, with the sole aim of educating industry practitioners on how to build their clients wealth
As Singapore heads the lead in Asia's booming Private Banking Industry learn from the best Private Banks in Asia and Internationally. Heads of Private Banking from American Express, Bank of New York, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, ICICI, Mashreqbank, Macquarie, Mees Pierson, Merrill Lynch, Rothschilds, Standard Chartered, UOB are all speaking at Terrapinn's Private Banking Asia 2005 features leading banking experts who will be sharing their expertise with you.
To register and claim your 10% Opalesque discount please email rani.kuppusamy@terrapinn.com or call Rani at Tel:+65 63222721. More information: www.fundsmanagementworld.com/2005/pba
2005 Hedge Fund Symposium
July 12-14, 2005
Waldorf Astoria, New York, NY
Each July several hundred institutional investors, hedge fund managers, pension plan sponsors, fund of hedge fund managers, advisors and other leading decision makers convene in New York to take stock of the burgeoning hedge fund industry and discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. This year’s theme will be finding new alpha-producing niche strategies in an overcrowded landscape.
Our unmatched speaking faculty includes today’s most active investors and industry leaders, including:
Robert D. Arnott, Research Affiliates
A.R. Thane Ritchie, Ritchie Capital Management, L.C.C.
James S. Chanos, Kynikos Associates
Paul Isaac, Cadogan Management, LLC
Brian S. O’Neil, The Robert Johnson Wood Foundation
Jane Buchan, Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company
Thomas R. Hudson, Pirate Capital LLC
Jeffrey A. Geller, Russell Investment Group
Donald Lindsey, George Washington University Endowment
Gordon Yeager, Stanfield Capital Partners
Michael Lewis, Bestselling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball and The New New Thing
Complimentary Attendance for Plan Sponsors!
For more information, please visit www.srinstitute.com/cx545 .
MARHedge World Wealth Summit
Southampton Princess, Bermuda, September 18-20, 2005
The world’s best-known annual hedge fund conference this year focuses on a critical global issue: wealth. Specifically, what role should alternative investments play in increasing and extending wealth throughout the world?
MARHedge World Wealth Summit, held once again in beautiful Bermuda, promises an unprecedented look at how alternatives can redefine the relationship between financial advisors and investors. We will examine the macroeconomic forces shaping the creation of wealth. We will identify emerging investors and their wealth management needs. We will describe for private bankers, trust officers and advisors of all stripes the proper role of alternative investments in asset allocation. We will study the many challenges that hedge funds and funds of funds face in supplying alpha. And finally, we will show how absolute returns can benefit the work of institutions and provide security and opportunity for families and communities alike.
Through keynote addresses and general sessions, as well as targeted content tracks that drill down on the strategies, case studies and operational issues driving the market, MARHedge World Wealth Summit will provide an unparalleled educational experience for professionals from all points of the alternatives and wealth management world. Plus, a full calendar of parties, sporting events and social gatherings befitting the unique tropical locale illustrate once again why so many of the industry’s leaders return to our event each year to catch up with old friends and forge new business relationships.
For many, a trip to Bermuda represents the pinnacle of wealth. For MARHedge and its World Wealth Summit attendees, Bermuda is the starting point for a new discussion of wealth management. Please contact Rich Robinson at 646 274 6234 or rrobinson@marhedge.com
ISSN Number: 1450-1953
Alternative Market Briefing has been called the best news service on hedge funds. Our mission is to intelligently select and timely provide the most important daily news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers both a quick overview and indepth coverage of all subjects through the "Source" link that leads you to the publicly available online news sources. The concept that we follow is that of a "clipping service" - the added value for you is that we screen, intelligently select and efficiently present each day the most important hedge fund news. The majority of the news sources used do not require a subscription, however some may ask you to register. Once registered, you can access these news sources freely. Please mail us your feedback and suggestions to feedback@opalesque.com - we love to hear from you!
Opalesque Ltd.
8 Samou Street
St. Omologites
Nicosia 1640
Cyprus
+49-89-512668-68
info@opalesque.com
www.opalesque.com
This newsletter is edited by Matthias Knab (MK) for Opalesque Ltd. For more information about me and Opalesque Ltd. please use this link.
Did you know? Opalesque has a great newsletter archive - use this link.Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter
does not constitute an offer or solicitation to sell any security or fund
to or by anyone in any jurisdictions, nor should it be regarded as a
contractual document. Under no circumstances should the information
provided on this newsletter be considered as investment advice, or
as a sufficient basis on which to make investment decisions. The
information contained herein has been gathered by Opalesque Ltd. from
sources deemed reliable as of the date of publication, but no warranty
of accuracy or completeness is given. Opalesque Ltd. is not responsible
for and provides no guarantee with respect to any of the information provided
herein or through the use of any hypertext link. Past results are no indication
of future performance. All information in this newsletter is for educational
and informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, tax or
accounting advice.
