I am passing up the opportunity to write about hedge funds this week because, frankly, there isn’t anything to say. Performance has been poor; investors are complaining, rightfully; the press is balking at manager acumen; so, what is new? The answer: Nothing. Things in the industry are status quo. Big funds are getting bigger, regardless of performance, and small managers are still struggling to bring in assets. Again what’s new? Nothing.
Recently, I was in Las Vegas at the Alternative Assets Summit and spoke with both managers and investors, as well as taking part on a panel about raising assets from institutional investors. I’ve been at this a long time and it continues to baffle me that managers don’t understand the basic concepts of raising money. Everyone thinks that if they build it, the money will come. They believe that if performance is strong, assets will flow into the funds like rain through a leaky roof. The reality is that just as you need a plan to implement your investment management strategy and a plan to make your operational infrastructure work, you need a plan to raise assets. If you don’t have one, you will fail. Period, end of story.
There’s really nothing else to say about this subject other than Lesson One: Everywhere you think money will come from is just where it won’t, and everywhere you never expect to find a cent is exactly where you’ll pick up the big bucks.
I am pleased to tell you that the third annual Operations for Alternatives will be held February 1 and 2, 2016, at the world-famous Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. The event is the only one in the United States focused on the convergence of the investment management industry. Unlike other industry conferences that don’t allow all attendees to attend all networking events, OFA allows everyone to attend everything; we are about engagement and connecting. To learn more go to: www.ofa-america.com
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
I am sick and tired of the lack decorum and common courtesy that I have been experiencing of late. It seems that everyone, everywhere, would rather be anywhere else and doing anything else then what and where they are. People are so consumed with texting, chatting and surfing, that they can’t seem to focus on the here-and-now, so they come off as simply rude and obnoxious. I see this almost everywhere I go and I am fed up with it. The world would be a much better place if we paid more attention to what was going on around us rather than to things floating in the ether.