British FX Hedge Fund Eyes US Investor Funding

With the global economy finding some solace as US equity and bond markets find stability, US Dow 30 has been above the 13,000 mark. UK-based Brevan Howard, the second largest hedge fund in Europe has found new growth opportunities for its 3 year Macro FX fund with US clients. Surveys show that US pension funds have confidence in the performance of hedge funds as compared to their European counterparts.

Brevan Howard was set up by Alan Howard an ex Saloman Brothers trader. The firm has more than $36 billion under management. The group's master fund returned 20.4 percent in 2008 and 18 percent in 2009, according to the Financial Times. In 2011, it was ranked number five in Institutional Investor's Hedge Fund 100 ranking.

Brevan Howard has offices in St Helier, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Washington, São Paulo and New York. Its US outfit is looking for sophisticated investors with at least $1 million liquid assets. Under SEC rulings hedge funds working with sophisticated investors do not need to get SEC registration.

The Parker Index, an index that measures currency hedge funds had weak performance in June 2012. The Parker FX Index is reporting a -0.99% return for the month of June. The Parker Index tracks fifty of the largest hedge funds, all fifty programs in the Index reported June results, of which twenty-one reported positive results and twenty-nine incurred losses.

On a risk-adjusted basis, the Index was down -0.42 % in June. The median return for the month was down - 1.04%, while the performance for June ranged from a high of +8.38% to a low of –7.05%.

State Street's FXConnect is a multi-bank portal used by FX fund managers.