New Hedge Fund Focuses On Tax Efficiency
The hedge fund industry, since its inception in the mid 1940s, has generally been regarded as tax inefficient-in some cases notoriously so. One hedge fund manager, however, is looking to break that stereotype.
Visium Asset Management, a $2.3 billion hedge fund manager in New York City, plans to launch a hedge fund designed to aggressively use tax harvesting and provide high-net-worth investors with handsome returns in the process.
The new fund, called the Visium Tax Alpha Fund, will launch on January 1, according to a source with knowledge of the plans. The firm believes it is the first hedge fund to use this type of strategy as a primary focus. Visium representatives declined to comment.
Robert Kim, a well-known industry veteran who formerly managed money at Moore Capital and Soros Fund Management, among others, will manage the new fund, according to the source.
A researcher at Hedge Fund Research in Chicago noted that current hedge fund performance data generally shed no light on a fund's tax efficiencies. "We do get a lot of data points from managers, and we log qualitatives and quantitatives to use in different types of analyses, but tax efficiency is not among them," said the researcher, who requested anonymity. "The only true way to figure out the efficiency level is to go to the actual investors."
The firm has just this week begun to approach potential investors and is in the process of preparing a white paper in conjunction with their tax advisor, Deloitte, to quantify their claims, according to the source.

In other news...

ETF Securities announced that its ETFS Precious Metals Basket ETF will start trading on the NYSE Arca on Friday under the ticker symbol GLTR, for "glitter." The firm says it is the first U.S.-based physically backed precious metal basket ETP to hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium in fixed weights.

Sapient Private Wealth Management launched last week in Eugene, Ore., as an independent, fee-based RIA as part of the Focus Financial Partners' Focus Connections program. Sapient previously managed over $500 million in the high-net-worth segment throughout the Pacific Northwest.

BNY Mellon and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the principal exchange in the People's Republic of China, agreed this week to collaborate on ETFs based on the BNY Mellon Depositary Receipt Indices to be traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group, New York City, has completed its $4 billion acquisition of NBTY, a global manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements.

Recent Foundation Center studies indicate the majority of foundation executives do not support legislative efforts to increase public disclosure of private foundation practices related to diversity. Further information is available from the center's Glasspockets initiative, at glasspockets.org.

Portfolio.com's latest U.S. Uncovered study ranks the nation's top 100 metro areas with the highest income growth. El Paso, Texas, topped the list, with a 147% increase over the past 20 years. Further information is available at www.portfolio.com.

Man Group's has completed its acquisition of GLG, giving it about $63 billion in total alternative assets under management. Emmanuel Roman is the company's new COO.

The number of board directors being tapped for CEO has more than doubled in the past year, according to John Wood, vice chairman and global managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles' chief executive officer and board practice. "Boards are being confronted with market-driven disruptions and are showing a willingness to make a change if a lower risk solution is readily available," Wood said. "Key to selecting a director as the new CEO is the board's belief that the person has the right skills, is available and can commit to the role. Boards also have some faith that the new CEO understands their views on what needs to change." More information is available at www.heidrick.com.

Genworth Financial Inc. in Richmond, Va., will acquire the La Jolla, Calif.-based Altegris companies, which provide alternative investments. Genworth Financial Wealth Management and Altegris combined will have about $23 billion in assets under management.

The asset management division of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is acquiring BlueBay Asset Management, one of Europe's largest independent managers of fixed-income debt funds and products. The issued share capital of BlueBay is valued at about C$1.56 billion. RBC expects a December closing.

Corporate boards are increasingly adopting clawback provisions, and the largest corporations now elect directors predominantly via majority voting, according to a report released this week by The Conference Board, a global business research and membership organization. More information is available at www.conference-board.org.

Use of alternative mutual funds is steadily increasing as RIAs demand greater transparency and liquidity from money managers, while focusing on risk-adjusted returns and uncorrelated investment strategies, according to Schooner Investment Group LLC. Morningstar's Long-Short category has seen inflows of almost $18 billion in the past year, while traditional large-cap mutual fund categories have seen net outflows of over $75 billion over the same period (year ending 8/31/10), according to Schooner (www.schoonerfunds.com).

The Blackstone Group, the global investment and advisory firm, plans to acquire Polymer Group Inc., a leading producer of nonwovens. The about $64.5 million purchase is expected to close prior to the end of the first quarter of 2011.

Events

BNY Mellon is hosting a series of events at six Asian locations this month to provide clients with insight into the foreign exchange implications of global capital flows. The latest IMF Global Financial Stability report features a comprehensive analysis of these flows based on the company's proprietary iFlow data. More information is available at www.bnymellon.com.

Dow Jones VentureWire FASTech, scheduled for November 3-4 in Redwood City, Calif., will assess the dynamics driving innovation and success in the tech industry. Featured will be some of technology's top CEOs, innovators and investors. To register or learn more go to fastech.dowjones.com or call 877-295-9881.

The Goldman Sachs Global Industrials Conference 2010 will be held in New York City on November 3. A real-time audio Webcast of the presentation and related presentation materials will be posted to www.honeywell.com/investor.

Financial Executives International, an association for CFOs and other senior-level finance executives, is hosting the 29th Annual Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference, "Outlook 2011," November 15-16 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. More information is available at www.financialexecutives.org.

Business Development Institute and PR Newswire's Financial Services Social Communications Conference will be held in New York City on November 18 at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Topics include how large financial institutions are integrating social communications into their marketing and communications platforms. More information is available at www.bdionline.com.

On The Move

Russel Schmucker has been named president of the Cherry Creek, Colo., office of Denver-based First Western Trust Bank, where he will handle the private banking, wealth planning and investment management needs of high-net-worth individuals and closely held businesses.

Vista Capital Partners, an independent fee-only RIA in Portland, Ore., has hired John Convery as its first COO.

Marcum LLP has hired Don Reiser as an international tax director in the accounting and advisory service's New York office.

-Cort Smith