Hedge funds rally troops to raise funds for EU campaign

Date: Monday, June 29, 2009
Author: City AM.com

A GROUP of hedge funds is putting together a fighting fund to battle the planned European Commission Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers that they say will unfairly punish the UK hedge fund industry.

The Alternative Investment Managers Association (Aima), has already put together a steering committee of funds, including BlackRock and Marshall Wace, to discuss ways to combat the proposals.

The industry body is now seeking to rally support from other fund managers, who it hopes will contribute to a war chest to fund a major international lobbying effort.

Sources close to the steering committee said the effort would aim to draw together a coalition of nations willing to  stand against the directive.

The source added that Holland  could also waver in the face of opposition from its pension funds, worried about the impact the directive would have on their profitability.

Aima has said that it has already seen evidence that hedge funds are either opting not to open in London or considering moving out of the capital, where 85 per cent of Europe’s hedge funds are based.