Monthly Archives: April 2009

Euro Weakens as Trichet Fails to Assuage Concern ECB Is Split

Bloomberg – The euro fell to a one-month low against the dollar after European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet’s pledge to boost confidence failed to assuage concern the bank’s policy makers are split. The Dollar Index rose for a […]

Unions sue hedge funds over money lost by Madoff

Las Vegas Sun – Two Las Vegas unions claim to have lost almost $2 million in retirement funds to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, and have sued the hedge fund in which they had invested that money. The unions — […]

Festival del Sole founder admits guilt in fraud

Napa Valley Register – The 2009 Festival del Sole will proceed in July as planned despite its founder’s guilty plea to securities fraud. Hedge fund executive Barrett Wissman has pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud and is cooperating with New […]

Olympic village draining city’s cash reserves

Globe and Mail – The multimillion-dollar bills continue to creep up on the Olympic village project. The city has stashed $25-million into a contingency reserve for the project, while its property endowment fund has now disbursed $100-million for the city’s […]

Nadel’s lawyers drop his case

HeraldTribune.com – So much for Art Nadel’s high-profile legal team. Nadel, the Sarasota money manager charged with running a $400 million investment scam, is now represented by a federal public defender after his private attorneys dropped him on Wednesday. Prominent […]

Star commodities traders ditch banks for hedge funds

Reuters – Star commodity traders, once synonymous with high-profile banks, are leaving for little-known investment firms that let them work and earn in ways iconic Wall Street firms no longer can. The financial crisis and its amplifying threat on risk […]

Hedge funds seen unsuitable for Islamic finance

Reuters – Hedge funds basing their investment strategy on sharia, or Islamic legal principles would face significant disadvantages compared with non-sharia hedge funds, some exponents of Islamic finance say. Many strategies would be difficult to achieve because they would be […]

NY AG and SEC probe pension fund investments

MSN MoneyCentral – A corruption scandal at the state’s retirement fund is the latest in a long string involving politically connected intermediaries called placement agents sometimes hired by investment firms hoping to land rich investment deals with pension officials, experts […]

Top UK fund may invest up to 20 pct in alternatives

Reuters – The UK’s largest pension scheme, the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) could invest up to 20 percent of its assets in alternative asset classes including hedge funds, a senior executive in charge of its investments said. Frank Naylor, head […]

Comment: Is Cayman under threat as a fund domicile?

Hedge Week.com – For most of the past decade, the Cayman Islands have been the world’s dominant offshore alternative fund domicile. At the last count, the jurisdiction had around 10,000 funds, the vast majority of which are hedge funds of […]

A Fund Manager Wins, and Moves On

New York Times – William A. Ackman makes a lot of noise for someone in the hush-hush business of hedge funds. He harangues executives, goads boards, talks this stock up and that one down — all in search of profit. […]

Islamic short-selling can develop market: bourse

Reuters – Islamic short-selling would help develop sharia capital markets, Malaysia’s stock exchange chief said on Thursday, defending plans for a controversial platform it hopes will improve market liquidity. Some sharia scholars frown on short-selling, saying it amounts to selling […]