A.E. Feldman Blog

Though they emerged relatively unscathed last month, some hedge funds are bracing for more significant losses this month.  This is potentially troubling news for pensions which have poured billions into the hedge fund industry in search of higher returns.  Pension officials may be forced to question whether the risks associated with hedge funds are appropriate [...]

Hedge funds, institutional investors and private equity firms are searching for opportunities amid the subprime meltdown.  Like bargain hunters, they are seeking out cheap or distressed debt.  Distressed debt fundraising so far this year has already outpaced all of 2006.  Now, as the business of investing in “distressed” companies heats up, so does demand for [...]

China raised interest rates for a fourth time this year to cool the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  The move comes as excess liquidity is fuelling inflation fears.  Sitting on a mountain of cash, China recently announced plans to take advantage of the turmoil plaguing Wall Street.  Despite the U.S. subprime meltdown, two Chinese state investment [...]

Back in June, A.E. Feldman first predicted emerging opportunities in the alternative energy industry.  The executive recruiting firm noted that the venture capitalists that helped finance Silicon Valley’s technology boom now see opportunity in energy and alternative fuels.  The firm also forecast that the sector is only going to get hotter.  One industry veteran and [...]

It wasn’t that long ago when record profits, hefty bonuses and a seemingly unlimited supply of cheap money fueled a slew of leveraged buyouts, corporate restructurings and other major deals.  Now, the liquidity and easy credit have dried up and the bears are loose on Wall Street.  Investment banks are stuck holding billions in risky [...]

Dirty money has become big business, a trend that is becoming increasingly expensive for banks around the world.  Hefty fines have just prompted American Express to ramp up its money-laundering vigilance.  Globally, however, banks have already begun staffing up to better monitor transactions and spot suspicious activity.  Mitch Feldman, President of executive recruiting firm, A.E. [...]

Hedge funds squeaked by in July, ending the month with modest gains.  The industry managed to survive the recent plunge in stocks and emerge relatively unscathed.  And that performance appears to be driven primarily by short-sellers and exposure to emerging markets.  Meanwhile, credit-market turmoil and subprime woes are handing losses to some merger arbitrage managers. [...]

An increasing number of hedge funds are using multiple prime brokers for their trading, borrowing and portfolio-monitoring needs. Now as the hedge fund industry grows, banks may finally be warming up to the idea of a multi-prime world. A new study suggests that prime brokers are adapting their business models to accommodate hedge funds [...]

Investors and analysts from Wall Street to Washington have voiced concerns that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is deterring initial public offerings.  Despite the gripes, however, 2006 turned out to be a good year for the U.S. IPO market.  And despite the late July stock sell-off, 2007 is also off to a strong start.  In [...]

Public pension systems are straying from the tried and true strategy of “little risk, guaranteed return” and opening up to the “high risk, high return” world of hedge funds.  The reason behind the trend:  no one expects the public equity market to return what it was going forward and pension funds must continue to generate [...]