Hedge Crunch Financial

According to Frank Packard, the representative for Triple-A Partners Ltd, which is a provider of start-up capital for hedge funds,

“Hedge funds that are surviving and prospering will see an increase in their assets under management going forward. Hedge fund investors tend to be more long-term than month-to- month and we may be seeing some people taking money out of the equities market to invest in hedge funds.”

Eurekahedge, the Singapore-based research firm declared that the global hedge fund benchmark is up 16% so far this year, and if this trend continues then hedge funds will experience their best yearly performance since 2003. This is a great positive trend, especially considering 2008 was the worst year in history for hedge funds, due to the world-wide financial crisis.

There was a net loss of number of hedge funds, with 150 new funds begun and 150 old funds closing shop, according to Eurekahedge.

According to the research firm Eurekahedge Pte, hedge fund assets increased in the month of October by $7.8 billion, making it the sixth consecutive month in which assets did so. The gain was led by European managers in response to their regions emergence from the global recession, according to the Singapore based research firm.
Dollars flowed into hedge funds to the tune of $10.2 billion, while losses totaled $2.4 billion in October. Taken together the funds represent over 1.45 trillion dollars of assets under management.

Despite the fact that hedge funds performance was not spectacular due to the international stock market drops, the funds were still deemed attractive in investors. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index actually lost 0.3% last month, putting the brakes on a seven-month long rise in value. Another index, the MSCI World Index, also fell, by 1.9% in October, putting an end to a three-month gain of 17%. Investors concerned that stocks have already outpaced the prospects for continued economic upturns drove the market downwards.

Habitat for Humanity sees as its mission bringing the dream of home ownership into the reality of hard-working families who otherwise would not be able to afford it. The New York City branch of Habitat for Humanity purchases vacant lots  for $1 from the city, and then develops them with monies which are raised in a large variety of ways, including through loans, foundation grants, state funds, sales revenues and fund-raising.

As the number of possible sites available for development decreases while the cost of their development skyrockets, Habitat for Humanity decided to enlist the help of the private sector in order to acquire a portion of the needed funding.

For the first time since its establishment in New York in 1984 Habitat is enlisting the help of a well-placed sector in the New York economic and financial world, and that is through hedge fund managers. A few years ago real estate agents helped in the effort, raising over $100,000 towards Habitat’s latest project, the Atlantic Avenue condominium development which includes 41 affordable condo units in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Borough president’s office has also contributed to this undertaking, along with LaCrosse Global Fund Services,  PNC Multifamily Capital and a long list of other private sector supporters that believe that “investing in human capital contributes to the success of the hedge fund industry, and New York City.”