Hedge Fund Women Hit 'High-Water' Mark
Like the high-water-mark measure that motivates hedge funds to outperform their last best gains, High Water Women has surpassed itself each year since a handful of senior women in the hedge fund industry launched the charity organization in 2005.

The 501 (c)(3) has been lauded by everyone from Bloomberg and The New York Times to Smart Money and HedgeWorld. Membership exceeds 2,500 and the group has raised more than $3.5 million in grants and other support for some 15 partner nonprofit organizations, mostly in New York City and the Tri-State area, logging more than 12,000 volunteer hours in the process.

Kathleen Kelley, a High Water Women board member and one of the group's founders, said HWW works with nonprofits to identify volunteer and grant-making opportunities while leveraging the talents and aspirations of professional women-HWW members-which in turn empowers women and youth in need. For example, HWW helped create a financial literacy program that teaches young students the essentials of personal financial independence. It is taught by HWW volunteers in after-school programs throughout New York City. Over the past six years, HWW has raised more than $500,000 in fund drives to provide thousands of at-risk children with fully-loaded backpacks to start the school year and gifts to brighten their holidays. The group is also working on a micro-financing program and other initiatives.

Like most of the HWW volunteers, Kelley has a day job-her's is global macro portfolio manager at Kingdon Capital Management LLC. She began her career with Tudor Investment Corporation, working for Paul Jones, who started the Robin Hood Foundation. As a volunteer there, Kelley sought help from nonprofits to deal with a host of social, economic and health issues. "I met a woman and we started talking to other women our age and who had been in the hedge fund industry for a while, who were at a point in their careers where they wanted to give back. They kept saying, 'But how do you find a good not-for-profit?' By then I knew many fabulous not-for-profits where they could leverage their skill sets. So a few of us thought, what if we find volunteers to go out and vet the organizations, and then set up volunteer activities for other volunteers, and just have it kind of trickle out that way? And it did." While most HWW members work in the financial services industry, they are not all women. "We don't preclude men," Kelley noted, "but after all, we are high water women."

In addition to contributing countless volunteer hours to partner organizations, each year HWW raises funds to provide grant-making support and fund HWW initiatives through signature events such as "Casino Night," which brings together hundreds of professional men and women to raise anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million. This year's gala will be held on April 15 at Gotham Hall in New York City, and everyone is invited. As Kelley pointed out, "There's an opportunity to get involved with HWW on a variety of levels, whether it's volunteering, becoming a member, coming to Casino Night, or just supporting High Water Women in general." To find out more, go to www.highwaterwomen.org.

In other news ...

In 2010 SEI Advisor Network signed on 406 new RIAs-a more than 60% increase in new advisors over 2009-increased assets under management to nearly $31 billion and generated $5 billion in new receipts, according to the Oaks, Pa.-based, wealth management turnkey service provider. Today there are more than 6,000 advisors who work with the network (www.seic.com/advisors).

The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index ("Broad Index") rose 1.38% in February, with eight out of ten sectors posting positive performance for the month. Convertible arbitrage was the best-performing sector for a second month in a row, finishing up 2.90%. Positive performance was also seen in the event driven sector, which finished up 1.44%, with all three of its sub-indices posting positive performance. Go to www.hedgeindex.com for further information.

Raymond James Asset Management Services has partnered with RiverFront Investment Group (www.riverfrontig.com) of Richmond, Va., to offer four new model portfolios on the Raymond James Freedom Unified Managed Account platform, introduced in 2008. The new Freedom Dynamic UMA portfolios incorporate RiverFront's separately managed account portfolios as the "dynamic engine" in the Dynamic Growth, Dynamic Balanced, Dynamic Balanced with Growth, and Dynamic Equity Income Freedom UMA portfolios. The account minimums are $300,000.

Berenson & Company LLC, a private investment bank based in New York, has launched a Debt Capital Markets (DCM) platform that draws on the firm's M&A advisory practice and expertise in the credit markets. Debt market specialists Christopher Johnson, vice chairman, and Jack Lucid, managing director, recent additions to Berenson's investment banking team, will run the firm's DCM platform. As part of its DCM capabilities, Berenson (www.berensonco.com) was recently granted FINRA approval to execute public underwritings of debt and equity.

Average CEO total compensation increased 39% in 2010, average total shareholder return was 25% and average net income increased 30%, according to a study of 100 early filers with revenues greater than $1 billion by executive compensation consultancy Steven Hall & Partners. The study confirms that profitability continues to be the key determinant of compensation, and compares 2010 CEO compensation with that of the previous year. For further information go to www.shallpartners.com.

Financial Tracking Technologies LLC in Greenwich, Conn., has released RegSphere, a new version of its compliance software designed specifically for hedge funds, fund of funds and private equity firms. The new product contains 13 compliance modules, which were previously sold separately, on one console. Go to www.financial-tracking.com for further information.

Research and Markets, based in Dublin, has released its report, Mass Affluent Banking, which contains mass-affluent customer survey data covering Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. The report provides the numbers of mass-affluent clients in given target markets, analyses of three business models (banking-led vs. investment-led; relationship management vs. non-advisory; and free bundled vs. fee-based bundled models), and details, for example, how Asian mass affluents differ from their Western European counterparts. For more information, go to www.researchandmarkets.com.

Events

The Corporate Executive Board will host its 2011 Institutional Investor Day on March 18 at the New York Stock Exchange. Go to www.exbd.com for further information.

The Barclays Capital High Yield Bond and Syndicated Loan Conference will be held in Orlando, Fla., on March 24. Go to www.barcap.com or call 404-262-4800 for further information.

Analysts and area specialists from Standard & Poor's Capital IQ, Equity Research Services, Indices, Ratings and Valuation & Risk Strategies will provide their forecasts and evaluations for 2011 and beyond at a conference for institutional investors and advisors scheduled for March 29-30 at the Sentry Conference Center in New York. Go to www.standardandpoors.com or call 212-438-6679 for further information.

The Financial Executives International (FEI) Leadership Summit: Blueprint for Change will be held at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Ariz., April 3-5. For information go to www.financialexecutives.org.

Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a market research and strategy consulting firm, will hold its 20th Tiburon CEO Summit April 13-14 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Battery Park in New York City. For more information go to www.tiburonadvisors.com or call (415) 789-2540.

The Socionomics Summit will be held on April 16 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, Ga., providing an exploration of the latest developments in socionomics-the study of how society's changes in mood motivate social actions in areas that include the economy and financial markets. For further information go to www.socionomics.net or call 770-536-0309.

The Casimir Capital Global Natural Resources Conference-featuring high-profile investors with top Australian mining and Canadian energy companies-will be held May 2-3 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will be the keynote speaker. Go to www.casimirconference.com for further information.

The 2011 Global Women's Initiative: The Ripple Effect will be held September 30 at the Intercontinental Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta. The event sponsor, Womenetics, is a business platform providing substantive information for and about women. Go to www.womenetics.com for further information.

On The Move

Robert Elliott, who helped Bessemer Trust expand from a $1 billion family investment office to a $62 billion wealth manager over 35 years, will retire as senior managing director at the end of this month. Elliot will remain active in the firm as a senior advisor. No one person is expected to be named as successor, according to the New York-based company. Last year, Bessemer added 119 new clients with $3.2 billion in new assets as well as $1.7 billion of money from existing customers.  

Baird has hired Dean Cottle, former manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and predecessor firms Shearson Lehman Bros. and E.F. Hutton, as director of the firm's new wealth management office in Salt Lake City. Baird has added 181 financial advisors and branch managers to its Private Wealth Management group since the beginning of 2009. The company has or plans to have new offices in Sioux City, Iowa; Charlotte, N.C.; Winston-Salem, N. C.; Sacramento, Calif.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Portland, Ore.

The Altergris Companies, subsidiaries of Genworth Financial Inc. and providers of alternative investments, have appointed Shawn Wears as vice president, midwestern regional director, and Brandon Rosenbaum, vice president, pacific northwestern regional director. Wears previously worked at Rydex-SGI and Capital One; Rosenbaum was most recently at Sunamerica.

GenSpring Family Offices, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has hired Brett Scol, a former senior wealth planner with PNC Wealth Management, as a family wealth advisor in the firm's mid-Atlantic region. GenSpring, an affiliate of SunTrust Banks Inc., manages over $20 billion in assets for about 700 of the world's wealthiest families.

Baird Private Wealth Management has hired five advisors who collectively oversee more than $450 million in client assets out of the firm's Raleigh, N.C., and Fort Worth, Texas offices. Joining in Fort Worth are Clay Ryan and Harold Ryan, both senior vice presidents, and Wes Oliver, vice president; all three were previously with Wells Fargo. Andrew Barnett, previously with Wells Fargo, and Carolyn Leith, previously with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, have joined as vice presidents in Raleigh.

Palmer Square Capital Management in Leawood, Kan., has appointed Angie Knighton Long as the firm's chief investment officer. A member of the advisor's investment committee, Knighton previously held a variety of management and trading roles at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. She is credited with creating the High Yield Debt Index, the first liquid credit trading index.

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company, based in Sanibel, Fla., has hired Patrick Dorsey, former director of equity research for Morningstar Inc., as vice chairman, director of research and strategy, effective March 28. He will also serve as chairman of Sanibel's asset management committee.

-Cort Smith