Daily News; White Plains

Cox Wants Fiduciary Look-Through Rule

WASHINGTON (HedgeWorld.com) - Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave the clearest indication yet of his thinking about the effects of the Goldstein decision, which last month struck down the SEC's effort to mandate registration for most hedge funds. The chairman, Christopher Cox, was one of three witnesses at today's hearing on the regulation of hedge funds. Randal K. Quarles, undersecretary for domestic finance at the ...

Magnetar Taps Reinsurance Expertise

EVANSTON, Ill. (HedgeWorld.com) - Magnetar Capital has hired a reinsurance specialist as the $3 billion multi-strategy firm broadens its investment reach. Andrew J. Sterge and his team at AJ Sterge Investment Strategies recently joined Magnetar and will remain based in the Philadelphia area. Mr. Sterge, former chairman and chief executive of Cooper Neff Group, is now head of Magnetar's reinsurance initiatives and a member of the investment committee.

Third Point and Massey Settle Board-Seating Lawsuit

RICHMOND, Va. (HedgeWorld.com) - Massey Energy Company has accepted the certified results of the election held at its annual meeting of shareholders, giving the challenge slate proposed by the hedge fund Third Point LLC, New York, two seats on the board of directors. Massey has agreed to drop a lawsuit in which it had argued that the inspectors were mistaken in their treatment of the withheld shares under the cumulative voting provisions of Massey's charter, and in which accordingly it had so...

Sandell Joins Jana in Call for Hec Sale

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - The hedge fund Sandell Asset Management disclosed a 5.04% ownership stake in Houston Exploration Corp. and added its voice to that of Jana Partners LLC, the New York activist fund campaigning for the Texas energy company to sell itself off. In a letter attached to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sandell restated its opinion that among the strategic options being considered by HEC (NYSE:THX) as to the future of the company, "given the larg...

Asterias Hedge Fund Training Gets Back to Basics

LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - It may not have been boot camp, but it was with something approaching an air of a back-to-basics exercise that the advanced hedge fund training session kicked off. All told there were eight of us, a handful of bankers from the foreign exchange desk of a top U.K. bank, an investment manager from a Luxembourg-based bank and a recently promoted portfolio manager working for a French investment bank. All were committing three days to the Advanced Course on Hedge Funds op...

Compliance Wind Blows Some Good

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (HedgeWorld.com) - What is a problem for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a nuisance requiring frequent regulation, re-regulation, and re-interpretation, is an opportunity to the industries that provides services for asset managers - consultancies and software manufacturers, in particular. The ill wind that blows promise for such business is the continuing controversy over "soft money," or client commission arrangements, which (the SEC has concluded) will continu...

Inter-Dealer Brokers Creditex and Credittrade Merge

LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Creditex and CreditTrade, inter-dealer brokers that operate in the credit derivatives market, have agreed to merge. Both firms are privately held and didn't release details of the transaction. "By combining the two companies' complementary strengths, Creditex Group will be best positioned to lead the market in innovation and voice and electronic execution services," said Sunil Hirani, chief executive of Creditex Group, in a statement. "Bringing together our market le...

Mellon Offers Portable Alpha Package

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Mellon Capital Management Corp. raised $1 billion for International Equity Alpha Plus, a new portable alpha product that combines the MSCI EAFE Index with a strategy of global tactical allocation to different asset classes. In general the portable alpha approach separates desired market exposure, or beta, from the above-market return, or alpha, with the goal of enhancing performance by investing in a variety of alpha sources. MSCI EAFE, a benchmark for equity inves...

Fimat and Morgan Stanley Lead Grannies Awards

LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Albourne Village, the alternative asset industry community network, has named its third annual Grannies award winners, recognizing best practice in the provision of a variety of banking, broking and administrative services to hedge funds. Morgan Stanley and Fimat International Banque led the way with each winning three Grannies. Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, Socit Gnrale, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank all won in one category.

Managers See Equities Up, More Bond Gloom

LONDON (HedgeWorld.com) - Equities markets will continue on an upward trend, while bonds are expected to decline as yields climb higher. As far as currencies are concerned, the dollar is seen losing value against the euro and yen, although it may maintain current levels against the pound. This, at least, is a reflection of the general outlook of the more than 100 institutional asset managers in an ongoing survey whose data are reported in the Investment & Pensions Europe table of investment e...

Technology Briefs

Carlin Releases Relative Value Trading Solution NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - CarlinAccel Spread Pro Dollar Neutral is the new offering from Carlin Financial Group, a product allowing users to execute trades and access increased liquidity when trading relative value strategies. The product builds on CarlinAccel Spread Pro, a platform that enhances arbitrage trading.