Hedge funds

Hedge fund compensation increased again in 2010, although by less than it did in 2009, and industry payouts are still below the peaks reached in 2007, according to analysis by Glocap Search LLC and Hedge Fund Research.

The Hedge Fund Association said it is adamantly opposed to the establishment of a self-regulatory organization for hedge funds, which the Government Accountability Office is currently investigating under the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The new EU hedge fund passport rule the European Parliament is soon to vote on, will permit all hedge funds, including those in the U.S., to operate throughout all of Europe’s 27 nations—but it would also subject them to the strict compensation rules.

Genworth Financial has agreed to pay $35 million, plus additional performance-based payments, to acquire alternative investments platform provider Altegris. The deal is expected to close at the end of the year.

European Union talks on granting hedge funds a Continental passport to do business and subjecting them to oversight by the new securities regulator has hit an impasse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

While hedge funds that have sought non-traditional investors have gone the ’40 Act route through funds-of-funds structures, they should consider separately managed accounts, according to a report from Pershing and Greenwich Associates based on detailed interviews with 41 hedge fund and investment managers and 27 institutional investors.

UAT said it received a patent for technology that connects external money managers to computing platforms in real-time.

Eze Castle Integration said it has created a new subsidiary called Ledgex Systems to pull together performance data for managers of funds of hedge funds, pension plans and private equity funds.

Fewer hedge funds closed their doors in the second quarter, but there were also fewer hedge fund launches, as investors continued to shun startups and smaller firms in favor of large, established players.

David Corkins, a star manager at Janus who sucessfully ran the Janus Mercury and Janus Growth & Income funds and executed an impressive turnaround on the flagship $12 billion Janus Fund, started hedge fund Arrowpoint Partners in 2009 - delivering returns of 33%.

Margins of asset management firms have declined significantly in the past 10 years, according to a report from kasina. In 2000, operating margins stood at 39%. Today, they are 29%. And net margins, 27% 10 years ago, are now 20%.

Citi’s Global Transaction Services unit has launched a suite of regulatory administration and compliance support services for hedge funds, private equity funds and their SEC-registered investment advisors. The service leverages Citi’s existing services for traditional mutual funds and their investment advisors.

Hedge fund performance declined last month, but continued to outperform broader stock markets.

In the past few years, a series of converging trends have combined to place hedge funds, separately managed accounts and private banks under greater pressure than ever before. First, firms whose clients include high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals face a never-ending battle to hold innovative, well-financed competitors at bay. At the same time, internal management continually seeks techniques to boost the productivity of relationship managers while struggling to implement sophisticated, faster trading and processing systems.

A group of investors Wednesday sued the accounting giant Ernst & Young for allegedly misrepresenting the financial status of the defunct hedge fund Parkcentral Global after they lost a total of $17 million in the fund.

Long-short strategies are outperforming—or at least underperforming less—than traditional equity plays, according to a white paper by Credit Suisse.

Rockefeller Financial has named Reuben Jeffery III chief executive officer.

Bernie Madoff and financiers of his ilk have changed the landscape for hedge fund managers forever.

Managers of startup hedge funds who think they won't have to register with regulators because of their size had better think again.

Hedge funds finished the volatile first half with modest declines. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index lost 0.81% in June, more than offsetting the gains in the first five months of the year to leave the index down 0.18% for the first half of 2010.