Raising capital is the most vital part of the hedge fund start-up process.  If the manager cannot raise sufficient capital to cover the cost of starting up and running the fund, the manager will soon be out of business.   Because raising capital is difficult, and because hedge fund managers cannot [...]

As hedge fund managers are limited in their ability to advertise their performance results because of the Regulation D rules, one of the ways which managers have found to market their hedge fund and distribute the performance results is through hedge fund databases. What is a hedge fund database? Hedge [...]

The term “hedge fund” is really a misnomer as most hedge funds are not hedged.  A better term would be pooled investment vehicle.  Traditional types of pooled investment vehicle structures include hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, and “hybrid” funds (funds which combine components of [...]

The biggest issue for start up hedge funds (and also established hedge fund managers) is how to grow assets under management.  Growing a hedge fund’s capital base is very important because increased AUM mean both increased management fees and performance fees (assuming the fund has positive performance returns).   This article [...]

We hear about the “web 2.0” and today’s San Francisco Chronicle used the term “Wall Street 2.0” which made me wonder what the hedge fund industry will look like after this mess clears itself over the next couple of months.  First, it is obvious that there is going to be [...]

Earlier this year the SEC approved the formation of an automated filing system for Form D. As noted in this article on Form D, the filing must be made with the SEC 15 days after the first sale of hedge fund interests. While the launch of the new online system [...]

Performance results are the ribbons of the hedge fund industry. In order to raise institutional money for your hedge fund, you will need good performance results. Even hedge fund managers who will not be focusing on raising money from institutional investors will need to have performance results in order to [...]

A common question from start-up hedge fund managers is what kind of a website can I have and how do I go about getting investors through an internet solicitation? The unfortunate answer is that hedge fund managers must be very careful when they are designing their website. In general, websites [...]

On Wednesday the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report examining investments by defined benefit pension plans into hedge funds. The report is titled: Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Guidance Needed to Better Inform Plans of the Challenges and Risks of Investing in Hedge Funds and Private Equity. To produce [...]

The goal of many hedge funds is to reach a point where they can start attracting investments from institutional investors. Many hedge funds (especially those with pedigreed managers) are able to start with backing from institutional investors while others (including many start up hedge funds) will need to develop a [...]