"This is a complimentary relationship where LJH provides our robust hedge fund manager selection process in combination with Attica‚s hedge fund skills and product range," says LJH Global Investments-Europe Managing Director Ronald M. Neumunz.
For Phoenix, this is the second hedge fund alliance. In June, Phoenix and Arden Asset Management agreed to a similar arrangement for the launch of a fund of funds for institutional investors.
"Phoenix‚s objective is to offer a continuum of wealth-management products that meet the needs of institutional and high-net-worth investors," says Michael E. Haylon, Phoenix‚s chief investment officer and head of its alternative financial products division.
Dow Jones
Investors More Interested In Insider Trading
If you can‚t beat the big executives who might be trading on inside information, you might as well track their moves.
That has been the growing sentiment among small investors in what appears to be another side effect of Enron Corp.‚s collapse. Anger has been brewing over seemingly prescient trades by top Enron executives who sold large chunks of stock just before the energy-trading company‚s collapse. And some investors are taking actions to be better prepared if it happens again.
Calls from retail investors have increased at companies that track insider information from people pursuing signs of further corporate downfalls. Enron executives reportedly sold about $1 billion in company stock in the three years leading up to the bankruptcy, while encouraging employees to load up on company stock in their retirement plans. And the Houston company isn‚t the only example. Executives at Global Crossing Ltd., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, reportedly sold stock during a period when federal agencies suspect the company inflated revenue numbers.
"I‚ve never seen more interest" in insider-trading information, says Lon Gerber, research director at Thomson Financial/Lancer Analytics. "It‚s the perfect storm," with the woes of Enron and Global Crossing hitting the news simultaneously, he says.
But investors keeping close tabs on executive trades might be disappointed to discover that they will probably never uncover another Enron or Global Crossing by simply watching the trading habits of corporate insiders.
Understanding the implications of big trades is complex and often confusing. Dozens of insider transactions are reported every day to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and most appear typical. Further complicating the matter, some insider transactions remain hidden for more than a year after they take place. Enron executives were able to keep out of the public eye some sales of company stock by selling shares to their company instead of on the open market. Under SEC rules, sales to the company can be reported to the commission 45 days after the end of the fiscal year in which the company accepted the stock.
"Insider activity should always be used as part of a research basket," not alone, Gerber says. Waves of corporate stock sales often mean nothing or are hard to interpret, he adds. "Buying is always a more powerful symbol."