One year ago
»» Dallas trader Victor Sperandeo, founder of EAM Partners, argued that, “a tax code written by Obama and the socialists won’t create jobs.”
“Hedge funds are net buyers of stocks, and help share prices rise, all else being equal,” he wrote. “When you raise the net cost of investment for hedge funds and venture capital firms, whether by higher capital gains taxes or some other mechanism, you alter the risk/reward ratios.”
It would appear that the Obama administration did not read that particular AR article. “Tax breaks for the wealthy, corporate jet owners, hedge fund managers and oil and gas companies should be scrapped to help reduce the deficit,” President Obama said in late June. His anti-hedge-fund rhetoric, including his reference this past September to the billionaires in AR’s Rich List, have resulted in some managers pushing back against the president and declining to participate in his latest round of campaign fundraising.
»» Onex Credit Partners hired Jack Yang, hoping that the former business development chief of Highland Capital Management would successfully manage its transition into a larger, more institutionally-focused asset management firm. With continued positive performance and fundraising, the firm has increased its hedge fund assets to $750 million from $565 million.
Five years ago
»» U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox sought emergency regulation of hedge funds in the wake of an appeals court decision that overturned hedge fund registration. Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, Cox stopped short of asking Congress to write new legislation regulating hedge funds. “I can state right now that the regulatory regime is inadequate. But it’s still an open question whether we need additional authority.”
Despite several attempts by politicians to impose hedge fund registration, it remained an elusive goal until the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 mandated it. The SEC set an initial deadline of July 21, but as the agency was struggling to apply a variety of new rules, it decided in June to delay the requirement to March 30, 2012. The extension gives unregistered managers, like procrastinating students enjoying a prayed-for snow day, even longer to fret and prepare. At least one major manager would rather leave the business than register. George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, in a letter yesterday alerting investors that the firm would be returning the capital of all but family members, cited the need to otherwise register with the SEC as a determining factor in its decision.
