AIMA Updates Capital Adequacy Notes

Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Author: FINalternatives.com

With capital adequacy a life-and-death issue for hedge funds in the current market crisis, one industry association is offering a hand.

The Alternative Investment Management Association, the chief lobbyist for hedge funds in the U.K., is not offering a capital infusion, but instead has updated its guidance on how to implement internal capital adequacy assessments.

“The hedge fund industry has embraced the capital adequacy debate proactively and the sophisticated risk management techniques undertaken by hedge funds make this framework possible,” Andrew Baker, deputy CEO of AIMA, said.

The revision to the original guidance promulgated last July is designed to reflect the new world faced by hedge funds following the financial catastrophe that has frozen credit markets, plunged equities markets into wild volatility and claimed several major Wall Street and British financial services firms. It includes examples of capital-adequacy assessments put in place by other companies.