it differs from country to country. that is why the legal docs have a lot of disclaimers. and in general "advertise" is too broad a term. to show it to sophisticated investors is allowed everywhere as far as i know. the legal form might be a real partnership for US onshore investors, but it is not illegal to offer institutions or high net worth individuals such a partnership. advertisement is just one side of the coin. the other is tax treatment. some countries punish hedge fund returns. having said all that there have been attempts to run hedge funds, better to say fund of funds, as listed companies on a regular stock exchange. thus an investor is buying an ordinary listed stock. i don't think this has developed big so far. six or seven years ago a new york group, asset alliance was the name i think, tried that. and some swiss people if i recall correctly. don't know what happened to them ...
I don't owe you any explanations. If you want to respond...respond. If you don't...don't. No one is asking you to go research retail marketing. I am simply asking people to share the knowledge they possess with regard to my question. Since you clearly don't have said knowledge, as you admitted above, ( i have no time to waste studying ever-changing restrictions applying to retail-type marketing)...why are you responding at all? Oh, and maybe if your previous post wasn't the biggest mess of syntax i'd ever seen in my life, I would have been able to discern something of value from it. So, to quote you, "I don't have time to waste" sifting through your poorly constructed sentences to find an answer. And if anyone else is interested, I am inquiring about hedge funds here because a person I work with is starting one. I'm interested in finding out more about how they work/ are run. Thank you, man, for your insightful response.
no matter where the fund is registered you cant offer it in europe without local approval from authorities. most often you'll need an additional approval for each country you're planning an offer. the approval itself is a tremendous hurdle that can only be overcome by a experienced law firm and requires substantial paperwork and capital. most often hedge funds try to establish distribution partnerships with local investment or retail banks in foreign countries. this way, they are able to address a much wider geographic base without carrying the costs of multiple regulators. without registration you cant offer the fund and dont have credibility to raise money either. dont know about asia but it might be similar. i believe in the US you're able to start a hedge fund and raise money domestically without registration with the authorities. is this correct? it looks strange though as a mere CTA needs to register with NFA while a hedge fund manager is exempt!!!? i guess that will change soon.
fair enough but... 1) why didn't you start with this? (no obligation to respond) 2) if you want a glimpse of the level of complexity of the answer to your enquiry in a general sense, have a quick read of the following, and that's just one jurisdiction amongst many... http://www.swlegal.ch/downloads/memberspub/455.pdf
Well I think that inherent in a DISCUSSION FORUM is the knowledge that one isn't literally required to respond. I mean this post has over 740 views and only 13 responses. I think that proves my point. Nonetheless...thank you for the link.
"this" being: providing a bit of context to your enquiry (that was my only question)? of course no one is obliged to respond, either way... anyway, i hope the link will clarify for you how utterly cumbersome the legal framework is / can be in the various jurisdictions... good luck
offtopic. i sensed recently that people, including myself, here on the board are improving in settling conflicts rather than feeding them. great development IMHO.
Irregardless of domicile, the SEC does not allow a private investment partnership, commonly referred to as a 'hedge fund' to advertise in order to raise capital. The commission has taken action against fund management companies for simply being listed in directories, both printed and more recently web-based. Unless the publication restricts entry/access to 'Accredited Investors' via a questionnaire or telephonic interview the underlying manager can be deemed conducting a 'public offering'. Websites of fund managers must be 'password protected' restricted to Accredited investors. IN addition each state has 'Blue Sky' laws which restrict Reg D offerings. If found to be conducting a public offering the fund would then run the risk of having to register under the 1940 Investment Advsior Act (regulates investment management firms) as a 'mutual fund'. Mutual funds must have independent board members, many cannot hypothecate securities (margin) thereby unable to short securities - the 'hedge' in hedge fund. To make a long story endless, if you like stripped shirts, and breaking large rocks into small rocks, you need to avoid holding counsel out to the public. At the end of the day, a hedge fund is nothing more than a fee structure.