30 Sep 2014

My Experience with Alternative Investments

We like to say that we eat our own cooking because we invest your money the same way that we manage our own. As one of the chefs in the kitchen, I also eat a lot of things that I’m not ready to serve. For better for worse, my account operates like a test kitchen. Some of the experiments turn out unexpectedly well and it is served out to everyone… Read More

24 Sep 2014

Hedge Funds Flip-Flop

A recent examination of hedge funds by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found a variety of deficiencies in almost half of the firms examined, according to the Wall Street Journal. None of the findings were particularly surprising, but the SEC appears to create a new name for an old problem: flip-flopping (and not on a wind-surfer). The problem is that some securities, especially ones that are unique or illiquid,… Read More

29 Jul 2014

Pension Cuts Hedge Fund Investments

I was reading the Wall Street Journal over the weekend and saw that the California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers) was cutting back their hedge fund exposure by 40 percent. Given that hedge funds have generally struggled over the past five years, I was interested to see what the article said, and, basically, it said that they weren’t happy with the lackluster performance and high fees. The article then said… Read More

3 Jun 2014

Do Hedge Funds Hedge?

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that the private equity giant KKR was closing down a hedge fund that they formed three years ago.  KKR is one of the largest and most successful private equity firms in the world, but they have struggled to find their way in other areas of the asset management business. The hedge fund, known as KKR Equity Strategies, wasn’t successful attracting assets with only 20 clients investing… Read More