Hedge Funds Standards Board targets 100 members

Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Author: Barney Hatt, Trustnet.com

The HFSB recently announced that 13 new hedge fund providers had signed up to the industry’s best practice standards, bringing the total to 45 at the end of last month.

Odey, Jupiter and The Children's Investment Fund were among the latest batch of new signatories announced by the HFSB.

The other new signatories are: Algert Coldiron Investors, Armajaro Asset Management, Claritas Investments, GSA Capital Partners, Horizon21 Active Alpha, Martin Currie Investment Management, Matterhorn Investment Management, Macro Investment Business - M&G Investment Management, Northwood Capital and Volteq Capital.

HFSB chairman Antonio Borges said: "In the current climate it is essential that the hedge fund industry demonstrates to regulators and policymakers that it is adhering to the highest standards by ensuring there are safeguards in place that would make a Madoff-type scandal very unlikely.

"The HFSB standards provide comfort to investors and we are grateful for the encouragement we have had from the Financial Stability Forum and the Financial Services Authority for the HFSB approach."

Borges says that the board wants to have as many as 100 signatories from the UK's 400 to 450 hedge fund managers by the end of the year. The board reported that 33 firms had signed up by the end of last year.

The group has been criticised for the apparent reluctance of hedge fund managers to sign up to the board's voluntary code of practice.