Globe and Mail – Who says Canadian hedge fund managers don’t have a heart? The industry really does care and it has set up a charity to prove it: Hedge Funds Care Canada.
It only has $137,000 in assets, as of Dec. 31, 2005, and it struggled to re-establish itself last year, but the charity’s organizers say Hedge Funds Care is ready to start making a difference. “The whole idea behind Hedge Funds Care is to have a philanthropy that’s dedicated to the industry because [managers] want to give back at least part of what they make to help other people,” said the charity’s president, Corey Goldman of Marhedge, a publication that tracks the industry.
The organization’s objective is to fund the prevention and treatment of child abuse, and it is affiliated with Hedge Funds Care Inc., a New York-based foundation. While the New York foundation has raised about $19-million (U.S.) since its creation in 1998, Hedge Funds Care Canada has had a rougher start.
The Canadian outfit was established in 2004 largely at the instigation of John Xanthoudakis, the founder of Norshield Financial Group. Mr. Xanthoudakis helped organize Hedge Funds Care’s first big fundraising event in the fall of 2004, a gala ball that raised about $240,000 (Canadian). But when Norshield was forced into receivership last year by the Ontario Securities Commission, the charity struggled to continue.
