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I'd like to cite a good acquaintance of mine. This is what he told us over a beer or two at a hedge funds networking event: We are drinking people with hedge fund problems, not hedge fund people with a drinking problem. Can't help but agree!.. to an extent.

Well, this way of looking for new growth is sure to land you in prison. A post on HedgeFundBlogger titled  Hedge Fund Marijuana sent me laughing out loud today. Some quotes: "Tara Bryson and her boyfriend recently received a grant from the state government to set up a goat farm. Instead, the two built a farm to grow marijuana." "Tara Bryson, 36, is the sister of David Bryson, co-founder of Ridgefield, CT-based ew Stream Capital. She heads investor relations for the $1 billion asset-backed lending fund that charges high rates to loan distressed companies money." "Bryson was arrested by the Connecticut State Police in Newtown on July 9th for three felonies: possession of marijuana, cultivation of marijuana, and conspiracy to cultivate marijuana. She plead not guilty, was released on $25,000 bail, and returned to work with investors at New Stream." And I thought this type of reckless hedge fund managers was an endangered species on the brink of ex...

  Карикатура №: 136 (2654), 26.07.2010 http://www.vedomosti.ru/ ■

Quote "China Investment Corp, the country’s $300bn sovereign wealth fund, this week announced its latest “worldwide” recruitment drive with 64 positions advertised. [...] The jobs on offer range from secretarial staff and human resources managers – “must be Chinese Communist Party member” – to country analyst in the international co-operation department – “must be good at keeping secrets”." Unquote   Ful article can be found here: Party faithful, your sovereign wealth fund needs you ■

Last Thursday (December 3rd) investment managers, prime borkers, compliance specialists and other professionals involved into hedge funds this way or another, gathered in Roppongi Hills overlooking the busy Tokyo city for a few drinks and a lot of networking. Organized by Mr. Stefan Nilsson, the founder and president of the Hedge Fund Club , the party was much more lively and cheerful than the same event a year ago. This time it was even filmed by a local TV station, and feeled much more crowded. I enjoyed meeting new people, among them a manager of an art fund, and a Europe-based manager planning to launch a "forestry fund", which apparently is what timerland funds are called in Europe. All in all, things seem to be picking up little by little, so let's hope for a truly happy New Year.

Sounds painfully familiar...

A line in a news blog sent me laughing out loud today: Unicharm PetCare Corp. (2059), a pet food maker, saw its pretax profit zoom up 31% to 6 billion yen, buoyed by beefed up offerings for aging and obese pets . Jeez, what kind of world are we heading to? The original news post here .

Some of the readers may remember my post People Needed to Manage the Fun , that I posted this summer. Apparently, whoever posted that job description may have been less mistaken than I thought. I am reading the AIMA's Roadmap to Hedge Funds , and one line there drew my attention: Some [absolute return managers] go even so far as to referring to the traditional asset management as "fun management" rather than "fund management"... Although I doubt that the pun was intended on the part of the job-poster, it is still quite amusing. On a more serious note, the attitude towards the traditional long-only managers described above is based on the fact that they are not held accountable for any losses, whereas the HF managers are, both by means of watermarks, hurdle rates and more often than not, co-investment of their own capital.

Saw this pic in a presenation material and couldn't help googling it. Very persuasive! Found via Google Image search

I read this story a year or so ago, and recently just stumbled over it on the Internet. Looking back at what happened over this year, the ibanker clearly had a lot to learn from the humble fisherman. The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied, only a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full a...

I came across a job posting today, reading Senior Fun Manager. Sounds like a lot of fun, maybe I should apply. :-)