GAIM Ops

GAIM Ops Has Moved to InAlternatives

2009-02-03T10:30:00.003-05:00

The GAIM Ops Team will now be blogging at our new blog, www.InAlternatives.com which offers insights and ideas on alternative investments from IIR's Finance Division.

Please look for our updates at Inalternatives and follow us via Twitter.

Giovanni Beliossi, Managing Partner and CEO at FGS Capital, weighs in on 2009 Hedge Fund Strategies for Success

2009-01-12T16:10:00.004-05:00

Giovanni Beliossi, Managing Partner and CEO at FGS Capital and guest host Ron Ianieri from the Options University weigh-in on CNBC's Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah, YouTube video --what is the alternative investment industry is doing to cope with the credit crisis.

Fund managers warn against sharing short selling trade practices

2009-01-09T11:41:00.003-05:00

According to an article at the Albourne Village, association representing fund managers in th US, UK and Australian have let officials know that publishing their techniques about short selling trade positions could ruin the industry. They fear that if the information is made public, other investors will mimic their actions and use similar trading strategies. The three associations represented, Financial Services Association, the Investment Company Institute of the US and the Investment Management Association of the

UK, have over $15 billion currently under their management.

Read the article here.

Poll: Hedge Fund Oversight Should Top SEC Agenda

2009-01-08T12:03:00.003-05:00

According to Greg Schulas and Ignites, The Securities and Exchange Commission should make stricter hedge fund regulations a top priority of its 2009 agenda. That’s according to a strong plurality of Ignites poll respondents.Approximately 49%, or 230 voters, said placing more stringent regulations on hedge funds should be the first item on the SEC’s to-do list. The high ranking comes in the wake of Bernie Madoff's alleged $50 billion-plus Ponzi scheme, which has renewed calls for tougher hedge fund oversight.

With tougher oversight, more due diligence can occur--but at what cost?

How do you see this implementation working with Hedge Funds?

We'd love to hear your thoughts.

White Paper by Pershing Confirms Importance of Counterparty Risk Management to Managers

2009-01-07T15:27:00.002-05:00

HedgeFunds Review discusses in this latest article that the results of a survey published by Pershing shows us that hedge funds are viewing counterparty risks as a much more important issue than they have in the past. Over 50% of hedge funds surveyed mentioned that they were currently monitoring counterparty risks on a daily basis and of those almost 85% consider it an important business issue.

The economic crisis has put more pressure in the eyes of hedge funds managers to keep a close watch on counterparty risks. Even though more managers are starting to pay attention to counterparty risks, there is still much work to be done on creating a comprehensive automated system. Currently, most hedge funds rely on a manual process to keep track of the counterparty relationships. How is your hedge fund dealing with counterparty risks?

Hedgeweek has also written a similar article.

Madoff investors may have to return profits

2009-01-06T09:31:00.004-05:00

In the recent ruling of the Bayou Group, those who cashed out with their interest two years of the collapse of the hedge fund were forced to had back their principle as well as their interest received. This is enough evidence to prove that they saw something wrong with the hedge fund. This could provide a road map for recovering investments in the Madoff hedge fund. Those who invested may have to return their interest, as well as the principal originally invested in the business. For more on the story, read the article here at Newsweek.

2008 Alpha Awards

2009-01-05T10:01:00.000-05:00

The winner's in the 2008 Alpha Awards have been announced today and, surprisingly, the aren't too surprising. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have clinched then number one and two spots in 2008. With the world of hedge funds still in the air and more news pours in from 2008, we're ready to see what will happen with 2009. What predictions do you have for the major players to emerge this coming year? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Holidays from GAIM Ops

2008-12-24T03:00:00.000-05:00

We'll be taking a short break from posting while we celebrate the holiday season with our family and friends. We sincerely thank you for your readership and we looking forward to continuing our coverage of this changing financial climate in 2009.

We with you joy and peace during this holiday season.

Sustainable Hedge Fund to Launch

2008-12-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

London-based CF Partners will launch early next year a new 50 million euro ($70.06 million) hedge fund aiming to profit from volatility in carbon markets.

This is coming with word that persons can now invest in clean energy, which may be one of the few types of funds that will see gains within the coming months.

What do you think of this move by CF to launch a sustainable hedge fund? It surely isn't business as usual.

For more information, please click here.

Monica and Walter M. Noel Lose over $7B Thanks to Partner, Bernie

2008-12-22T03:01:00.000-05:00

Madoff may have been wildly reckless with billions of dollars--but he didn't do it alone. For instance, just how he got hundreds of the wealthiest persons in the world to invest in his schemes came from the help of some very skilled (wealthy) inviduals like Walter M. Noel.

Walter and his wife, Monica head up the Fairfield Greenwich Group which lost over $7B dollars thanks to their good buddy, Bernie. Affected in this loss are their four grown daughters and four sons-in-law that work at the company plus a children's clothing manufacturer based in Greenwich.

The Noel's were featured in a 2002 issue of Vanity Fair and had homes in the most exclusive areas around the world. Camelot, for the Noels has ended. For more information, please visit this NYT article

Hedge Fund End?

2008-12-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

According to Hedge Fund Research, 344 funds have already been liquidated within the third quarter which places liquidation at an all-time high. The total percentage of funds that have been liquidated this year (first nine months) was nearly 693. What we are seeing is an overall sale and let go of funds. We'll wait to see what 2009 brings. Any predicitions?

For more information on this issue, please visit the article we've referenced at WSJ.com.

Castle Hall on Madoff

2008-12-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

*Castle Hall has never conducted due dilligence on the Madoff Organization

In a recent post on their company's website, Castle Hall lines out what makes the Madoff case so different from other hedge funds with regard to fraud. Madoff was the only one who produced documents that had clear numbers of the client's earnings; making it very easy to lie to his investors. This was unlike any other hedge fund, thankfully.

But why would anyone follow this man? Why did no one, until recently, ring the bell on his inepitude?

For the rest of the Castle Hall post, please click here.

Sandra Manzke on CNBC

2008-12-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

Sandra Manzke, MAXAM Capital chairman/CEO and of the Hedge Fund Investor Forum was recently featured on CNBC to discuss restricting redemptions for hedge fund managers.

To view the video, please click here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=956294201

Do you agree or disagree with Sandra's take on restricting redemptions?

Withdrawals bedevil hedge funds, and not just the poor performers

2008-12-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

From IHT.com

For Bernard Madoff, the embattled hedge fund manager, the world came to an end when his funds were unable to meet $7 billion in withdrawals at a time when he was supposedly managing $17 billion.

It may seem a lot for people not in the know about hedge funds; however, this amout of money is typical for hedge fund organizations. Individuals looking to get out their money shoudl be able to do so unless there is a gate set up by the managing organization. Customers now have taken out upwards of %35 percent of funds, even funds performing all right in this economy.

So what do you think? Sould people be able to take their money out at anytime or should more restrictive gates be put into place? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

For the rest of this article, please click here.

Financial groups' problem assets hit $610 bln

2008-12-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

From StockMarketFunding.com

There has been a sharp increase by over $600 billion dollars of hard to value asses during the third quarter of 2009. This isn't great news as it raises concerns over dangerous balance sheet practices that may be abounding throughout the funds market. People are worried about the cash securities so their going for the sweetest deal--

Level-three assets have risen all year for most banks as they have found it virtually impossible to sell mortgage-backed securities and collateralised debt obligations. "A lot of banks are saying: ‘I am going to move securities to level-three assets because I have more control over, and confidence in, the model used for their valuations'," said Gregg Berman, head of the risk management unit at Risk Metrics...

To visit this article, please click here.

Bloomberg: Madoff ‘Big Lie’ Hits Fairfield Sentry, Kingate Funds

2008-12-12T11:44:00.000-05:00

From Bloomberg.com:

The biggest hit on the "Ponzi" Madoff scheme is Fairfield Greenwich Group who invested over $7 billion dollars into the Madoff firm. This is the first report of enormous losses by the inept Madoff firm. Surely more big names are to come.

The biggest loser may be Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoff’s eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said. Another was Kingate Management Ltd., whose $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff, they said.

For more information, please click here.