Editors’s Note: Related Tickers: Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)
Hedge Fund Gold Wagers Defy Worst Slump in 33 Years: Commodities (Bloomberg)
Rich List fund manager enjoys £20m payday (The Sunday Times)
One of the City stars of this year’s Sunday Times Rich List has added another £20m to his fortune after a stunning year’s share-trading. Andy Brown, 57, a former Morgan Stanley fund manager, paid himself the dividend from Cedar Rock Capital, his investment firm. It was revealed in the accounts last week. Unlike a hedge fund, which bets on rises and falls in a wide variety of shares and financial instruments, Cedar Rock invests in a small selection of companies and tends to hold the shares for several years.
Apollo-to-Goldman Embracing Insurers Spurs State Concerns (Bloomberg)
Until April 2011, Patrick “Pete” Dodd, a former money manager at Liberty Life Insurance Co. in Greenville, South Carolina, invested customer premiums in what he calls a “squeaky clean” portfolio: bonds backed by state governments and blue chip corporations. Then a company funded by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO) acquired Liberty and inherited its clientele, mostly people approaching retirement who had bought annuities from the company to supplement their Social Security. Now the unit’s holdings include securities backed by subprime mortgages, time-share vacation homes and a railroad in Kazakhstan.
Hedge Funds Post Disparate Early-April Returns (FINalternatives)
Hedge funds were essentially flat in the first half of April, with widely dispersed returns among strategies. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell 0.09% through Tuesday, Hedge Fund Research said. The benchmark is up 3.04% on the year. Convertible arbitrage funds turned in the best average return in early April, rising 1.44% (5.18% year-to-date).
Blackstone Ends Dell Pursuit (FINalternatives)
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) has dropped out of the bidding for Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), leaving Carl Icahn as the only potential alternative to a buyout led by Dell founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Blackstone has spent a month trying to cobble together a competing offer for the computer-maker while looking at its books. But the private-equity giant did not like what it saw, telling the special committee of Dell’s board handling the sale negotiations that it was spooked by falling personal-computer sales and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s own declining operating income.
Union Bancaire Privée and Guggenheim Fund Solutions Power an Advanced Hedge Fund Platform That Meets the Requirements of Global Investors (Financial Post)
Following the acquisition and integration of Nexar, Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA has launched an alternatives division that offers clients broad alternative investment expertise, as well as innovative solutions. As part of this strategy, it has selected Guggenheim Fund Solutions (GFS) as its partner to provide clients with…
…a state-of-the-art platform that combines carefully sourced, dynamic, high-potential hedge fund managers with a next-generation solution that delivers the transparency, governance, and structural risk mitigation required by investors. Within this framework, UBP utilizes its extensive hedge fund investing experience to identify, select and monitor performing managers that operate on the GFS managed account platform. Fourteen accounts have been launched and UBP plans to have thirty operating by year end.
Heavy hitters swing for the ‘hedges’ (New York Post)
Private banks must revamp to regain clients (Asian Investor)
Private banks in Asia will need to change their approach to serving the high-net-worth segment in the post-crisis era, according to fund-of-hedge-fund executives. Once a vital distribution channel for fund of hedge funds, private banks have lost the confidence of HNW individuals and are now used as a conduit to sell the banks’ own products, according to FoHF panellists at the Fund Forum Asia event in Hong Kong last week. Prior to the crisis, private bank channels had an “open architecture” for fund distribution, notes Daniel Ghirardi, Asia-Pacific chief executive for Swiss-based Syz Group. The firm’s business spans private banking, asset management and investment funds.
Aurora targets retail investors with liquid hedge fund (Financial Standard)
The need for daily liquidity is restricting retail investors from satisfying their increasing appetite for alternative investment products, according to Aurora Investment Management. The US-based hedge fund boutique said that difficult market conditions had led many investors who wouldn’t otherwise consider hedge funds, to increase their allocations. In its Aurora Horizons fund, the hedge fund manager believes it has the key to unlocking the lucrative retail market. Not available to Australian investors yet, Aurora has been in the country sounding out interest from super funds and asset consultants and so far it says the response has been positive. “It’s a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds strategy which focuses on the most liquid ideas from across our investment partners to give our clients the advantage of daily pricing,” explained Aurora partner, president and portfolio manager Scott Schweighauser.
Fraud trial hears email boast: Rams semi-final bigger than Super Bowl (Derby Telegraph)
A US businessman and former Derby County investor, who is on trial for fraud, sent e-mails to potential clients encouraging them to invest in the club. A Virginia court has heard that Jeffrey Martinovich sent e-mails promoting the exploits of the Rams. MICG Venture Strategies, a hedge fund managed by Martinovich, was one of four US backers that helped finance the Rams’ takeover in January 2008. The court was told that Martinovich, chief executive of MICG Investment Management, made positive sales pitches in e-mails regarding Derby County and a New Jersey solar panel manufacturer called EPV Solar, in which the hedge fund had an interest.
