Looks like this "Short" is really going to get "squeezed"" International Herald Tribune/Bloomberg News : "NEW YORK International Management Associates, a $185 million hedge fund, had its assets frozen by a Georgia state judge after seven current or former National Football League players said the firm had failed to return their money." "Wright and his partners "invested an extremely disproportionate and unauthorized amount of fund assets in 'short selling' one particular" stock, exposing the players' investments "to extreme and intolerable risk," according to the judge's order. The company was not identified."
http://today.reuters.com/investing/...228:MTFH46701_2006-02-28_20-44-38_N28170515:1 Private eye to help search for hedge fund millions BOSTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Investors, who funneled millions into an Atlanta hedge fund firm, will hire private detectives to help find a missing manager who has been accused of cheating clients out of $100 million or more, a lawyer said on Tuesday. The group of doctors, businessmen, as well as current and former U.S. football players, are joining the search after state and federal officials failed to find the estimated $185 million that Kirk Wright managed for them and others through his hedge fund International Management Associates. A Georgia judge issued a bench warrant for Wright's arrest three days ago after he failed to show up for court hearings. "We plan to hire Kroll, the international investigations, security, and risk consulting services group, today to help the FBI and local authorities who have not located Mr. Wright," said Glenn Delk, a lawyer who represents several dozen of the fund's estimated 500 investors. There are a lot of folks here who want to talk to him."
Today's WSJ did another piece on the Wright scandal. Turns out, Wright is black, his two partners were black and many of the more prominent investors were black...not that there's anything wrong with that of course. It seems there are very few blacks in the industry, and now one less with a bunch of pissed black clients. One reason I bring this up is the following paragraph from today's journal which implies that Wright may have been given some of the money by blacks for being black etc... "Some of Atlanta's African-American business leaders express anger that the city's biggest black-owned hedge fund may have taken advantage of the city's black professionals to gain legitimacy early on, letting the fund build a broad client base later. "In all candor, what he did was say, 'I can wine and dine African-Americans who are not sophisticated in the investment field and get their money,' " says Reuben R. McDaniel III, the African-American co-chairman and president of Jackson Securities Inc., an investment bank founded by former Atlanta Mayor Maynard H. Jackson, who died in 2003."
I make it a point not to do that. Viable and credible is the fare of the day. Too many African Americans do that very thing. It's called stay within the color for color sake. And it is usually done because African Americans can not get the same consideration of investment from the white community. We must be honest, it (color) does make a difference as well as provide a barrier. This will hurt the cause!
The only color that matters to me is green and if I was raising millions for a fund, I could care less the color of the skin of the person who wants to put it in. I doubt most large hedge funds would care as well as long as they raised the millions.
Ok, now turn the equation around and that's where the hesitance is. Not the person putting it in, but the person managing the funds. The question is, would the fund have an African American managing it? The current market profile speaks for itself. It hopefully is an improving mindset.
Yes coming at it from the bias of the investor and to whom he or she will give the money to does keep the racism going....
And there is the nasty little problem. While I understand it, I don't like it. I experience this as I pursue my business endeavors. I have no issues when the projects are under $50,000. That seems to be the first real squeamish barrier. And even though I have successfully completed several $1,000,000 plus projects over the years, there still is a sense of uneasiness. I have a few African American friends who manage funds for some investment groups. They spend tons of time polishing, grooming and enhancing their skills hoping to gain a trust and support that will never be there. IMHO!
Well the idea is to get more Afircan American started funds and having them get more coverage to breakdown the barriers. However the subject of this thread puts a bad name on it for other AA fund managers working the legit way.