WEST PALM BEACH, FL (www.hedgeco.net) – Labor Union pension trustees and their employer representatives are joining the world of hedge funds, according to news reports by the Chicago tribune. Thisgroup has become the last to join the hedge fund investment bandwagon. Union pension fund groups have significant assets of about $360 billion.
Bill Patterson, director of the AFL-CIO office of investment said, “I don’t think it’s [hedge fund investing] universally accepted as an approach.” Another member of the Union pension industry, Jack Macro of Marco Consulting, who is also an adviser to union pension funds said, “We were real cynics about it.� Such skepticism stems from the 1998 Long Term Capital Management collapse which first alerted the global investment community of dangers and risks accompanying hedge fund investments.
Since the collapse of LCTM, hedge fund managers have drawn some lessons from such financial disaster by reducing leverage levels used in trading. Jack Macro now helps Union labor pension trustees and other clients invest assets into the hedge fund of funds vehicles. According to Macro, the goal of such philosophy is to diversify holdings and to achieve monthly positive returns.
Frank Hurt, president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union however noted that not everyone is ready to invest in hedge funds, because there are still many unknowns about the strategy. Another industry manager, Brad Karbowsky, chairman of the $2.3 billion National Automated Sprinkler Industry Pension Fund, said “Where do you go with that money you know you’re going to lose? If you’re trying to achieve 7 1/2 percent, it’s hard to do when your equities are only giving you 8 1/2 percent and your bonds are dragging you down.”
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is the most popular hedge fund database and community in the world. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com.
