Mid-Market Managers Outpace The Big Guns
Bigger isn’t always better if you’re a hedge fund-of-funds. Preqin reports managers running $10 billion or more in saw an average 2.1% dip in the value of their assets in 2011, while those for the mid-sized crowd increased their assets by 10%, according to hedgeweek.
Hedge fund-of-fund managers with $10 billion or more in assets make up 5% of the total fund-of-funds’ universe and oversee approximately 45% of a roughly $945 billion pie.
Though it’s tempting to draw conclusions, performance in 2011 was all over the map. Roughly 25% of managers said the value of their assets sink. Another 24% said asset value increased.
Ex-Bear Sterns Duo Preps Payback
Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, formerly of Bear Sterns, will pay a combined $1.05 million to settle charges they mislead investors regarding the firm’s financial status and their own stake in its hedge fund investment pools, Bloomberg writes. Cioffi also agreed to a three-year ban from the securities industry. Tannin took a two-year ban.
A federal jury, in 2009, found the pair innocent of both conspiracy and securities and wire fraud following an investigation of the subprime mortgage blow-up. Jurors in the criminal trial said they believed the men tried to save the funds using their own money.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said investors lost $1.6 billion in the deal. Click here for the full story.
Hedgies Rewarded As Europe Freezes
Hedge funds got a warm fuzzy as cold weather pushed heating oil to a nine-month high, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. Hedge funds, which made bullish bets on oil, profited when the cost of heating oil went up to $3.1909 a gallon for the week ending Feb. 7. The price rose to $3.2085 on Feb. 9 and was at $3.17 this afternoon. Click here for the full story.
Of course, all was not wine and roses for the 99%. A combination of blizzards, high winds and frosty temperatures throughout Europe resulted in airport delays, shipping disruptions and killed more than 200 people in Poland and Ukraine.