Opalesque

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London:

Some funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) and due diligence (DD) providers have had to review their methodology since the beginning of the credit crunch and the subsequent uncovering of frauds such as Madoff’s. Opalesque spoke to several industry players about their approach. Our conversations are presented in a Q&A format – as are DD forms.

Most of the FoHFs interviewed for this series said they had not re-organised their DD resources – they had been doing it right all along – although one said that “meaningful evolutions were implemented in the second half of 2008.” Although no new risk areas have been introduced since last year, all managers t………………….

For full article :  http://www.opalesque.com/56048/The_evolution_of_due_diligence_Part_5048.html

One of U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s initiative, called the Public-Private Investment Program, or PPIP, has lost momentum, reported the Wall Street Journal on Monday, as big banks are worried about having to sell at fire-sale prices while small banks fear they would be shut out. Potential buyers balk at the risk of doing business with the government, concerned that politicians might demonize them for making big profits (coverage).

On March 23, 2009, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury announced the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets – which is designed to provide liquidity for toxic assets on the balance sheets of financial institutions. It is part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as implemented by Geithner. The major stock market indexes in the U.S. rallied on the day of the announcement.

PPIP has two parts, addressing both the legacy loans (which has since been postponed) and legacy securities (which is apparently still going ahead). The funds are meant to come from TARP monies, private investors, and from loans from the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset Lending Facility (TALF).

Large banks, which had positive revenues in Q1-2009 (some say partly due to the relaxation of the mark-to-market rules of FAS 157) and managed to raise significant capital through sales and share offerings, do not seem overly keen on participating.

Earlier this month, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton Investments, Invesco, PIMCO and Western Asset Management were reportedly among the candidates to run funds for the legacy securities portion of the PPIP. Blackrock last month claimed in a release: “the PPIP is one of the most important initiatives recently launched by the government and one that should, over time, help stabilize the banking system.” Bloomberg.com has just confirmed that the Treasury Department was set to name 8 to 10 asset managers for the PPIP this week . Once the asset managers have signed deals with Treasury, they each will be expected to raise at least $500m of private capital within 12 weeks.

Read full article here: http://www.opalesque.com/53173/New_York_Roundtable_HF_managers_are_afraid173.html

The full 33 page Opalesque NY Roundtable can be downloaded here for free (select Roundtable subscription):  http://www.opalesque.com/RT/RoundtableNY2009.html

The dismal performance of hedge funds in 2008 left many investors shocked as their hedge fund investments proved to be much more correlated to the markets (and to their other investments) than they had previously thought possible. Because of this, investors are likely to conduct more extensive due diligence to determine if their hedge fund investments are providing true diversification going forward.

Full Story : http://www.opalesque.com/52885/Kellner_DiLeo_launches_new_fund_focusing_on885.html

In Part One of this series on hedge fund administrators, we questioned if third party administrators had become a necessity in today’s hedge fund industry . In Part Two of this series we will take a look at the legal accountability hedge fund administrators may or may not have in the case of hedge fund fraud.

Full Story : http://www.opalesque.com/52883/Part_Two_Investors_may_demand883.html

By the Opalesque Team: Greenwoods Asset Management, a China equity fund house based in Hong Kong, reported that its Golden China Fund, an equity Long/short fund focusing exclusively on China equities (H, B, and A shares, and ADRs) using bottom-up stock picking through thorough fundamental research, had returned 52.15% YTD (as of May 28, 2009, before fees), vs. 24.67% for the H-share index and 23.02% for the MSCI China Free Index. The fund has annualised 32.25% from July-04 to May-09.

Full Story:  http://www.opalesque.com/52557/Greenwoods_Better_than_expected_PMI_indicates_economic557.html

Industry veteran Janet Tavakoli’s 2Q07 questioning of AIG`s financial reporting rang an early alarm
From Kirsten Bischoff, Opalesque New York: In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday, former AIG Chairman Maurice Greenberg expressed his disagreement with the way the AIG bailout has been managed by the US government, and offered his opinion on how the firm went downhill so quickly.
While the US Government’s focus on AIG bounces between exorbitant bonus payments and the sequence of events that led to the downfall of the firm, we may find ourselves rediscovering some of the industry voices which questioned AIG’s portfolio well before its problems came to light to the larger public.
full story: http://www.opalesque.com/51278/Industry%20Veteran%20Janet/veteran603.html

Opalesque Round Table

CAN WE REDISTRIBUTE THIS?

“Can we redistribute this to our hedge fund managers and institutional investors ?”
Emails like these are coming on from people who read the Opalesque Zurich Roundtable:
“Excellent information piece. Are you happy if we distribute this via email to our hedge fund managers and institutional investors?”
“This is an excellent piece, thank you very much for sending it. Please include me in any future Roundtable articles.”
In this 31 page script of the Opalesque Zurich Roundtable, you will learn from:
Alexander Ineichen, Managing Director and Senior Investment Officer, Alternative Investment Solutions, UBS Global Asset Management
Jaime Castán, Head of Hedge Fund Research, RMF
Uwe Eberle, Head of Institutional Relationship Management, Member of the Management Committee, Man Investments
Prof. Dr. Peter Meier, Zurich University
Dr. Christian Raubach, Managing Partner of Wegelin & Co. Private Bankers
and other experts…how:
hedge funds can rebuild trust – three suggestions
Sharpe ratios can fool investors
that RMF will be handling close to 80% of US and Europe L/S hedge fund investments via managed accounts
where the Swiss regulators failed during the 2008 crisis
the story how one hedge fund manager changed the way a mainstream newspaper writes about hedge funds
…and much more!
http://www.opalesque.com/Roundtable/RoundtableZH.html

Industry veteran Janet Tavakoli’s 2Q07 questioning of AIG`s financial reporting rang an early alarm
Fund Launches – GSO starts $3bln rescue fund, 17 China hedge funds launched in March
Closures – Blue Lake Capital closes Blue Star hybrid FoHF
M&A - Zwirn preparing to cede control of hedge fund over next few days, Stark completes Deephaven fund acquisition, Mergermarket`s Q1 2009 league tables of legal advisers to Global M&A
Research – New paper examines the effects of market conditions and hedge fund performance on correlation of hedge fund returns ]
Hedge Funds in Crisis – Bridgewater Associates rejects Geithner`s toxic recycling proposal, BH Global discount to NAV narrows from 30% to 10%, Fortress claims $125.7m loss in Dreier fraud, seven HFs filed claims in past 2 days
Institutions - New Jersey Investment Division makes 4th hedge fund redemption in 2 months
Investing - Investors favoured mutual funds over hedge funds for commodity investments in Q1, China hedge funds: the A-share market had bottomed, Convertible bonds: Opportunity knocks
G20 Update – Hedge funds say G-20 crackdown makes industry a `scapegoat`, AIMA statement on G20 decisions, Darling predicts agreement on hedge funds, IMF at G-20 summit, G-20 backs regulation crackdown, $1.1tln aid, Cost of staging G20 meeting could hit $117m, Clamp down on tax havens close to being approved, Lobby groups for sustainable and social investment call on G20 leaders to implement sustainable policies

full story: www.opalesque.com

Opalesque was formed in 2001 by Mr. Matthias Knab to provide professional news services to participants in the alternative investment sector. Since inception, Opalesque has been providing premium online information services related to the hedge fund and investment industries.

Matthias Knab, an internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and alternatives, leads Opalesque. Mr. Knab has frequently served as chairman of hedge fund conferences in New York, Greenwich, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Miami, Bahamas, Stockholm, and Dubai etc. In addition, he has presented or moderated at hedge fund events in London, Geneva, Zurich, Singapore, Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid, Moscow, Sao Paolo, San Francisco, Toronto, Cayman Islands, Auckland and Bombay, and lectured at numerous universities on the subjects of hedge funds and the state of the global alternative asset management industry.

Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. On February 2003, Opalesque has published their first newsletter in the web named “Alternative Market Briefing”, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space. Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service. Each week, more than 400,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries read Opalesque publications.

“Opalesque.com” was the runner-up for
“State Street Institutional Press Award 2008.”

Produts Offered By Opalesque Ltd.

Opalesque Roundtable

The Opalesque Roundtable Series is an unparalleled collection of intelligence on the most important global hedge fund jurisdictions and players.
In each Opalesque Roundtable, Opalesque unites some of the leading hedge fund managers (single and multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base (institutions, fund of funds, advisers) to gain unique insights into the specific idiosyncrasies and developments, the issues and advantages of the highlighted hedge fund centres.
http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveRT

A SQUARE

A SQUARE (Alternative Alternatives), which Opalesque started on January 16th 2007, is a weekly proprietary research newsletter featuring unique investment opportunities which bear virtually no correlation to the main stream hedge fund strategies and/or distinguish themselves by virtue of their “alternative” motive – social, behavioral, natural resources, sustainable/environment related investing. For large institutional portfolios, Alternative Alternatives can add uncorrelated return streams while balancing the downside risk.
http://www.opalesque.com/AboutA2.html

Alternative Market Briefing

On February 16h 2003, Opalesque published its first Alternative Market Briefing newsletter, which reaches now over 46,000 readers each day. The launch of these Briefings was considered to be nothing less than a revolution in the hedge fund media space. Alternative Market Briefing is a daily newsletter focused on hedge funds and alternatives. This hybrid financial news service, which combines proprietary industry news stories and filtered third party reports has been credited by many industry insiders with delivering precise, accurate, and vital information to a notoriously guarded audience. Opalesque subscribers can also access the Alternative Market Briefing archive with currently over 32282 articles, the largest online news database on hedge funds. The archive, a resource used by thousands each day, is fully searchable.
http://www.opalesque.com/AboutAMB.html

Alternative Market Briefing Weekly

This Alternative Market Briefing Weekly comes in as an aide memoire when back from the week-end; you can then back-search relevant articles in our Alternative Market Briefing (AMB)’s archive here.
For the price of just two “grande caffè latte” per month, the widely acclaimed Alternative Market Briefing premium news service from Opalesque can be yours to enjoy every day! With more than 40,000 subscribers, AMB is the largest global daily publication for professionals dealing with hedge funds

http://www.opalesque.com/AboutAMW.html

Technical Research Briefing

Technical Research Briefings offers technical chart analysis with a global perspective on all major markets, including Equity Indices, Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities. The Technical Research publications are produced and edited by Gregory J. Troccoli, who for many years held the position as First Vice-President – Chief Technical Analyst at Prudential Securities. During his tenure at Prudential, Greg was solely responsible for publishing in-depth analysis of all global markets . In addition, the author enjoyed an extensive media presence including by monthly appearances on CNBC and defined monthly time slot with Bloomberg network. Opalesque Technical Research is unique compared to most available research which is fundamental in nature, and not technically (chart) oriented. In addition, most current available research is mainly equity based, and not global in nature. Our approach mandates a concise overview several times a week, providing insight, and consistency.
http://www.opalesque.com/AboutTRB.html

Opalesque Future Intelligence

OFI meets a need currently not served by other publications. It is a must-read for anyone interested in futures trading or investing. This new publication addresses the interests of the managed futures community, including commodity trading advisers, fund managers, brokerages and investors in managed futures pools. Published every two weeks, Opalesque Futures Intelligence (OFI) provides original research by industry members as well as interviews with veteran industry players and upcoming managers.
http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archiveOFI

Opalesque Commodities Briefing

The new Opalesque Commodities Briefing focuses on this increasingly important sector and offers free daily updates covering:
• Agriculture, Bullion/Gold, Energy, Metals and Minerals, Oil
• Environmental Trading
• Price Watch, Market Moves and Trends
• Fund Profiles, ETFs / ETCs, Indices
• Currencies, Commodities Exchanges, Trading Platforms
• People, Regulatory
• Research Updates, Analysis and Commentaries
http://www.opalesque.com/Commodities_Briefing

Islamic Finance Briefing

Earlier in 2008, Matthias Knab was chairing a three day conference in Dubai which was attended by bank CEOs, CIOs, treasurers, institutional investors and Arab billionaires. Over 50% of the delegates were looking for Islam-compliant investments.
Opalesque decided to service this emerging industry, and help everyone who wants to follow and take advantage of the many opportunities.
http://www.opalesque.com/IslamicFinance_Briefing

Opalesque Sovereign Wealth Fund

Opalesque Sovereign Wealth Funds Briefing offers free daily news covering Sovereign Wealth Funds worldwide, including:
• Fund management, profiles and administration
• Compliance
• Asset allocation and investments
• Alternative and ethical/green investments
• Market developments
Technology http://www.opalesque.com/SWF_Briefing

Real State Briefing

The Real Estate Briefings offer:
• Commercial and Residential Property Watch
• Diverse and in-depth regional focus on: Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa
• Construction, Green Construction, Developers
• Emerging Trends, Market Moves
• Fund Profiles, REITs, ETFs, IPOs/Stock Market, Private Equity, Performance
• Mortgage
• Legal, Regulatory, M&A
• People
Research Updates, Analysis and Commentaries Investors, bankers, developers, lawyers, agents, property consultants, government & state officials and other realty service providers have found a new favorite daily read: the Opalesque Real Estate Briefing.
http://www.opalesque.com/Realestate_Briefing

Opalesque shop:

Opalesque adds the Opalesque shop offering, less than one umbrella, a rich choice of over 150 products related to hedge funds and alternatives. 15 key vendors offer substantial discounts, which are available only to Opalesque readers, on products like databases, reports, seminars, books, software, journals etc. The Preqin Global Hedge Fund Investor Review is currently our bestseller.
http://www.opalesque.com/shop/

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