Jim Rogers Says Hedge Fund Industry Has Peaked

Date: Thursday, December 2, 2004

Hedge fund celebrity Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum hedge fund with financier George Soros, said the industry has peaked because of deteriorating stock and bond returns coupled with an industry-wide lack of good money managers. Bloomberg reports that Rogers denounced the industry at a hedge fund conference in Tokyo this week. He said rising numbers of hedge funds, as well as poorly performing stock and bond markets, will cause hedge fund returns to suffer. Rogers said commodities represent the best asset class for investments and that China is the best place to make money. His confidence in commodities was made apparent in March, when he launched a Euro-denominated commodity index fund called the Diapason Rogers Commodity Index Fund. His third book, Hot Commodities, was released earlier this month, in which he focuses on the how and why of the commodities industry. Earlier this year, Rogers came out against the dollar, saying it may lose its status as the world’s leading currency in the next three to four years. He believes that the Chinese yuan will appreciate “a lot” in the coming decades as it becomes untethered from the dollar, Bloomberg reported. Demonstrating his bullishness on China, Rogers said he has opened a Swiss bank account for his 18-month-old daughter, for returns made on his China-related commodities fund, as well as employed a full time Mandarin tutor for her. Rogers retired at the age of 37 with what he claimed to be “enough money to satisfy a lifelong yearning for adventure,” Bloomberg reported. Rogers spent the following years traveling, including a three-year journey around the world with wife Paige Parker. Story by Naomi Cohen.