坚持y Time For Tar Heel Hedge Funds

Notwithstanding reports that convertible arbitrage will rise again, a North Carolina hedge fund, hit hard by the pummeled strategy, is not sticking around for the revival.Akela Capitalis one of only a dozen or so hedge fund managers in the Tar Heel State, and unfortunately for them, many specialized in convertible arb, the downturn of which has forced the Cary, N.C.-based firm to close its doors. Founded five years ago byAnthony Bosco, a former trader atMorgan Stanley, Akela once boasts $600 million AUM, but, while no figures were available on what's left,The Triangle Business Journalsays convertible arb firms in the state like Akela lost between 30% and 70% of their assets last year. "I don't know why, but a lot of people who came here seven or eight years ago to set up hedge funds were into convertible arbitrage,"Charles Leedy, a founder ofChapel Hill Investment Advisorstold theJournal. Unlike Akela, the other mainstays of the area,Argent Financial GroupandSilverback Asset Management, are sticking with the strategy. Argent started 2005 with $3 billion AUM – now reportedly at about $1.3 billion – and according to its managing director,Nate Brown, after a bad first half last year and a nice recovery in the second half, "we're back to even now." For its part, Silverback has gone on to other strategies, one of which, according to益百利业务报告, now bets on personal-injury and life litigation settlements.