Over the last year-and-a-half, maybe more, the threat of the enactment of the JOBs Act has had advertising sales folks licking their lips in anticipation of dollars from hedge funds.
Well, the law went into effect and guess what? Nothing happened. The billboards in Times Square are still focused on coffee, booze and clothes and the ones outside of both the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels are all about doing AC.
So, lots of hubbub, all in ending in a dud. Sure, the there is still time for ads to be bought in time for the Super Bowl, maybe even the World Series — this can only happen if USAA gives up some of its spots — but for now, the hedge fund industry remains dark.
Perhaps the quietness is a ploy to maintain the exclusive aura of the industry, or perhaps it is nothing at all. Maybe it is the fear of being first. I, for one, think the threat of hedge fund advertising has been much ado about nothing. When and if the managers decide to spend money to attract assets from the masses, then it will be worth talking about.
Until then let’s focus on the real news in the industry, that assets continue to flow to both new and old managers alike and that traditional long-only mangers seem to be launching hedge funds and that hedge fund managers seem to be launching mutual funds.
Be careful what you wish for, because before we all know it, everyone will be doing it. Launching funds, that is. This is the new normal and it is here. Every day, it seems, in an effort to attract new pools of assets, managers are launching new products outside their wheelhouses. Of course, this is going to be good for some managers and bad for the others. Investors need to really pay attention to what is going on and complete thorough due diligence, because many who enter this arena will fail.
To learn more about the convergence of the hedge fund and mutual fund industries, please check out this site. Operations for Alternatives, or OFA, is a new online community that I have co-founded to focus on this aspect of investment management. Check it out; there is quite a bit of information exchange happening about how fund managers are moving in various directions.
The next HEDGE Answers Conference Call is scheduled for November 15 at 10 a.m. You can register by clicking here. The Series kicked off in September and the conversation was lively, entertaining and, most of all, informative. You won’t want to miss November’s call. Don’t delay, register today!