The hedge fund industry is arguably doing better in Europe than in the USA, and better still in Asia. In an article entitled “Hedge-fund Mania Hits Asia”, BusinessWeek reports: “From Tokyo to Singapore, hedge funds are as hot as Thai chili peppers.” Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Fund, says: “I am told a new hedge fund is being set up in Asia every other day.” So after last week’s report of strong hiring at European and American hedge funds, it is appropriate to consider the hiring picture in Asia.

Matthew Hoyle International (MHI) is a financial recruiting firm with offices in the UK, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. It’s a boutique-style firm, with a small-feel, personal touch and strong flow of mid- to senior-level positions in Europe and Asia. Hedge Fund Search Digest publishes a steady run of its prop trading jobs, portfolio manager jobs, and quant jobs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul and elsewhere. Earlier this year we asked for Matthew’s views on the Asian hedge fund industry, especially from the point of view of candidates in Europe and the USA. In a nutshell: the Asian industry is very robust, but mobility at a global level is not easy even for very talented candidates.

On industry growth:

“More hedge funds are moving into Asia, particularly from Europe. We see special situations, distressed funds and funds involved heavily in private deals as being especially aggressive in 2008. We also expect the Asian convertible space to remain particularly attractive.”

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This opportunity to run the show (from the IT perspective) at an NYC hedge fund is a pure tech role. Experience in financial technologies and institutions is always helpful for this kind of position, but sometimes not essential. First and foremost, the employer is looking for a strong hardware / software / network professional. A hedge fund job like this often gives the opportunity to work with the best technologies available.

Work in a small midtown hedge fund (25 people) directly with the CFO and Director of Operations. Hands-on IT Manager is needed to manage network operations, telecommunications and design / implementation of the application infrastructure for the firm. Candidate will be required to manage hands-on all aspects of hedge fund operations, with focus on the following areas:

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Growth of the hedge fund industry in 2008 from the point of view of AUM is still an open question, but as far as jobs go, there is no doubt that we’re in a boom period. The financial press continues to report widely on the migration of talent from banks to hedge funds, and on the readiness of hedge funds with capital at hand to create room in their organizations. Hedgeweek, citing Bloomberg, writes: “More than 45 traders, bankers, analysts and other executives have left major investment banks this year to join hedge funds and private equity firms … not including people who have left to start their own companies.” The emphasis here should lie with “major investment banks” — the number 45 estimates hedge fund hires from just a few companies alone — and that was one month ago. Hedgeweek sums up: “The time is right. Hedge fund managers have never had it better in terms of having access to the best available talent to boost their business.” The thought applies equally well to intra-industry moves by hedgies at an underperforming fund.

Two other London papers, the Times (”Traders head for hedge funds“) and the Financial Times (”Hedge funds hit troubled banks with a hiring binge“), report the same story, and binge really does appears to be the right word for it. FT reports several prominent lift-outs of entire teams from hard-hit banks. A manager of one large London hedge fund remarks: “You can get whomever you want.” It’s not just Europe either. TheDeal.com has “noticed an uptick in the volume of jobs posted in the hedge fund sector” in New York and Connecticut to its job board (just one of hundreds of sources of hedge fund jobs covered by Hedge Fund Search Digest). A recruiter quoted by the Times: “My job at the moment is to take people out of banks.”

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We’re well into several sea changes in the hedge fund industry that bear directly on fund marketing, sales and client service — three closely related aspects of fund operation. In general, cash is flowing into the industry less readily than in previous years. Institutional investors and HNW individuals are still turning to hedge funds, but preferring established firms with large AUM. Pensions and governmental investment agencies, with bureaucratic overhead that creates load for client service personnel, are becoming increasingly interested in hedge funds and funds-of-funds. Client service overall is becoming a bigger job, as potential investors have more questions and established clients want to keep a closer eye on their investments. Recent decisions by funds to freeze withdrawals during market turbulence have undoubtedly contributed to these trends. Attracting and retaining investors is a more competitive challenge than ever.

A recent job post to Hedge Fund Search Digest by a major bank and financial services organization indicates four areas of responsibility for a hedge fund investor services professional:

Service Delivery — Serves as primary contact point for fund investors, and for fund managers for issues relating to investors. Provides documentation to authorised parties. Opens new investor accounts ensuring compliance with the company & government regulations. Processes investor transactions in line with company & government regulations. Processes cash movements associated with investor activity. Ensures that fund records are maintained in a complete and organised manner. Produces internal operational reports. Particular responsibility for the second-level review of activity by team members.

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We compile this list of hedge fund launches from publications in the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. When we mention a firm without also noting its location, the reason is often that the firm is based out of multiple major cities internationally. Although significant in a firm’s development, we don’t currently report the opening of new offices — only new funds. However, from the perspective of hedge fund jobs, new offices of an established firm are definitely important. Firms from the world’s hedge fund capitals, New York (”Big Apple Biggest Home To Hedge Funds“) and London (”London keeps European dominance as hedge fund assets rise 30 per cent“), are increasingly pushing toward Asia and the Middle East, while in developing markets a larger and larger number of local funds are sprouting up (”Asian Hedge Funds Top U.S., Europe Offerings In ‘07“).

Matthew Kratter, veteran of Clarium Capital, has launched a L/S equity hedge fund.
A new 130/30 fund is from Advent Capital Management (NY).
Covepoint Capital’s Emerging Markets Macro Fund has been spun off from Bear Stearns Asset Management.
The Real Return Alternative Strategies Fund is a multi-strategy fund from Veritas Asset Management (UK).
The Argo MS fund-of-funds of Argo Group, a spin off of Absolute Capital Management, invests in its own funds.
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All in all, middle office roles are not responsible for the allure of hedge fund employment, but especially in current market conditions they may provide an excellent way in the door. As the industry consolidates — large funds becoming larger — internal operations become correspondingly more complex and involve more personnel. Hedge funds are hiring, and hiring for Operations is a crucial part of that. We’ve also seen hedge fund middle office roles that allow for substantial growth and transitioning to other areas in the firm. Base salary on offer for this “Middle Office Analyst” position in New York City starts at $100k:

$1billion+ hedge fund has been operational for over 15 years and is highly ranked. The firm invests in multiple asset classes including private equity, derivatives and fixed income. The analyst will report directly to senior management. The main responsibility will be to work with Advent Geneva to update, review and create standard reports on a monthly basis. Required: an understanding of Geneva, exposure to operational issues such as CDS, CLO & bank debt, and very strong desktop skills. Must have either hedge fund experience, or strong accounting experience from either the sell-side or a big four accounting firm.

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Major financial news sources are publishing articles with titles like, “Hedge funds hit troubled banks with a hiring binge”… now is the time to look out for hedge fund job opportunities. We’ll take a closer look at this trend later this week, and in the meantime, look to Hedge Fund Search Digest for listings of 100’s of current jobs and free weekly updates.

In the meantime, here’s our weekly roster of hedge fund launches. Most of them are new funds from established firms. That’s in keeping with the consolidation of the hedge fund industry that continues to be widely reported. In the coming weeks we’ll be looking into what this means for hedge fund employment.

The Ermitage Directional Fund (UK) is a new diversified fund-of-funds.
Endeavour Capital (UK) will launch a new fund.
The EMA Vietnam Fund is from Equity Management Associates (MA).
The MENA Associated Gas and Global Environment Fund is a joint venture of the Man Group and the International Petroleum Investment Corporation (UAE).
The Eddington Equity Opportunities Fund is a fund-of-funds from Eddington Capital Management (UK).
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This week’s roundup of last week’s hedge fund launches or announcements. This information does not constitute a formal index of funds, and is only intended to give job seekers an idea of where there’s activity. As we’ve reported, turmoil in the financial industry is resulting in hedge funds finding new opportunities and hiring talent away from banks. Click here to monitor the very latest intelligence on hedge fund jobs worldwide.

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Castlestone Management (NY) has launched its Aliquot Active Commodity Index Fund.
Denali Advisors (California) will launch a 130/30 fund this year.
Two new funds from Knighthead Capital (NY) are credit-focused and event-driven.
Citigroup will seed a distressed fund run by two former employees, Jeff Jacob and John Humphrey.
The MENA Plus Fund of Wittenham Investment Management (Singapore) is a fund-of-funds investing in emerging markets opportunities.
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As institutional investors turn away from small funds, but remain interested in the hedge fund asset class, major employers like this one are somewhat insulated from the bad weather. This very large investment firm, based in San Francisco, is hiring for its US and Global Equity Group. The excerpts from the job description published here spell out the responsibilities of the position in detail. We’ve truncated the description of desired qualifications a little bit, while retaining the main idea. Helpfully detailed job posts are characteristic of large firms, which tend to have dedicated in-house HR people.

Overview:
The group manages a large number of funds across mandates (long-short, long-only and partial long-short) and breadth levels (from global large-cap to focused industry-specific funds). This position will play a large role in the day-to-day management and the development agenda for one or more of the funds.

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