Kraushaar’s Roaring Capital Is Shutting Down, German Ponzi Scheme

Harvard Fund Hires Parikh of RBS to Build Commodities Team (Bloomberg)
Harvard University, the world’s richest school, hired Satu Parikh to lead investments in commodities, the second hire this year as the endowment expands its staff of internal managers. Parikh, 36, will join Harvard Management Co. in June from RBS Sempra Commodities LLP. … Jane Mendillo, who took over in 2008 from Mohamed El-Erian, has thinned the ranks of external money managers by 20 percent, hiring hedge fund executives Emil Dabora and Mark McKenna from Caxton Associates LLC and Michele Toscani, a former managing director for Fortress Investment Group LLC in Tokyo. In the year ended June 30, Harvard’s $27.6 billion fund climbed 11 percent, beating its own benchmark while trailing the median 13 percent gain of institutional funds.

K1 founder confesses to setting up Ponzi scheme (Reuters)
Helmut Kiener, founder of German hedge fund group K1, confessed to having set up an elaborate Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say cost investors 345 million euros. “I just did not have the courage to give up and shut down the funds after making losses,” Kiener said on Thursday. He put part of the blame on Barclays and BNP Paribas. Barclays, which lost 171 million euros on deals with Kiener, had set up funds that invested in his funds, ratcheting up the pressure, he said.

Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA)

Kraushaar’s Roaring Brook Capital Is Shutting Down (HFAlert)
Judah Kraushaar’s Roaring Brook Capital is shutting down. Roaring Brook is a long/short equity hedge fund with a focus on US mid cap companies. Apache Corp (APA) and Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS) was Roaring Brook’s largest positions at the end of December.