The recent news that CALPERS is abandoning the hedge fund industry sent shockwaves around the investment management community. Investors and managers alike are scratching their heads wondering where will all the cash go? Of course, many of the naysayers of the hedge fund community blame CALPERS decision on the fees, but I think that is malarkey.
I think it is simply because CALPERS, quite frankly, is just too big. In order to allocate money in a meaningful way, the pension plan’s powers-that-be must find large funds that can accept large assets, and well dear friends, we all know that there are not that many good large funds to take all those assets.
Sure, blame it on the fees as many have opined this week but I say blame on the markets and the lack of managers. What CALPERS is saying with this decision is that there just aren’t big enough buckets for all that money. And while hedge funds are going the way of the buggy whip for the pension plan, private equity, is not, so maybe they are really not out of alternatives – just out of their kind of alternatives.
So dear friends what does this mean for our beloved hedge fund industry? Simply put nothing. The hedge fund industry is alive and well and will continue to grow through the end of 2014 and beyond.
The discussion at this week’s OFA-NYC was fast and furious and more important to the point on issues, including FACTA, Form PF, AIFMD and even cyber security. On Wednesday, we launched the ninth (can you believe it?) season of the HEDGEAnswers Conference Call Series. As both of these programs suggested, there is still plenty to do in the hedge fund space. We are still in the early innings of the game. Stay tuned things are just get started. Check what out OFA is doing in Palm Beach in March and register for the next HEDGEAnswers call to get in on the discussion.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY
I’m sick and tired of standing in lines with folks who are on the phone. It absolutely positively is the absolute worst. Who the hell are these people talking to, what is so important that they have to keep me from getting my cup of Joe because they are unable to get off of the phone? There are no smoking signs, signs to remind us to wash our hands after we use the facilities, where are the put-the-damn-phone-down-and-order signs? Recently it was announced that Starbucks is launching series of express shops to get people served faster and more efficiently. The first thing they need to do is refuse to serve anyone on the phone – that will increase the efficiently a whole bunch. Put the phone down people, place your order and move on – it is pretty simple.