Ledbury Research surveyed over 2,000 high net worth individuals, all of whom had over $1.5m/1m in investable assets, 200 had more than $15m/10m. Respondents came from 20 countries across Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Sixty percent of wealthy individuals polled in a global survey say that they plan to become a Nevertiree, shunning traditional retirement, instead continuing to work, start businesses and take on new projects in their later years.

The report, the 12th in the Barclays Wealth Insights series, is based on a survey of more than 2,000 high net worth individuals, who were asked to consider what retirement and later life means to them.

The findings show that the concept of nevertirement is expected to grow over the coming decades, with over 70% of respondents under the age of 45 saying that they will always be involved in some form of work.

In particular, 75% of U.S. respondents plan to work part time after they have stopped working permanently, seven percent more than the global average. Specifically, 32% plan to work between five and 20 hours per week in “retirement”, and seven percent plan to work more than 20 hours per week, “simply reaching the normal age to retire” is not at all important in determining when they stop working.

Only 40% of U.S. high net worth individuals “completely agree” that they are “totally confident” in having enough money for retirement, with another 37% “slightly agreeing”. Only 48% of U.S. high net worth individuals would completely classify themselves as financially secure.

When planning for retirement 35% of U.S. wealthy feel that the rate of tax they have to pay is predictable, compared to 58% of Latin American high net worth individuals and 73% of wealthy individuals in Switzerland.

Further, one in ten of the wealthiest surveyed do not agree that they have enough money for retirement (greater than $15m in investable assets). Among the global wealthy who are already retired, only 51% agree they are completely confident in having enough money for their retirement.

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Taitz founded and successfully managed an award-winning fund administration operation in Sydney, Australia before relocating to the UK. In Taitz’s previous firm, clients included regional Hedge Fund of the Year winners, Best Market Neutral Fund winners, other alternatives including electricity and power hedge funds, as well as established and distinguished long only boutiques.

Taitz says that the UK market is fragmented with larger administrators turning away smaller funds and relying more on their size than their service levels to win clients. This leads to clients having to look to foreign providers to fill the gap and then having to deal with a plethora of issues such as time zones and language or cultural differences. Taitz says it is re-assuring for a fund manager to know that they can deal directly with the principals of the business whose office is around the corner.

The boutique offers full service fund administration to offshore funds and caters for a wide variety of strategies including equity long/short, long only, market neutral, arbitrage, global macro, private equity, fund-of-hedge funds and others. For more traditional funds, the firm offers an attribution/ performance analysis reporting service.

The firm sees its differentiating factors as being: an unrelenting focus on service quality; having the best technology available; hiring properly qualified staff; and being based in London, in close proximity to intended clients. “Our clients are not just one of hundreds fighting for management’s attention which may be the case at the larger shops” says Taitz.

The firm also has the distinct technological advantage that all its administrative services are carried out through a single integrated system – investor registry, fund accounting, investing and complex performance fees – reducing risk and leading to greater efficiencies.

“Our key strategic differentiator, however, is to pace our growth.” Taitz continues, “As a result we will position ourselves as a premier provider of fund administration services to boutiques. We will soft close periodically to ensure that service levels are never compromised.”

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Gagliardi was noted in Robert Bryce’s book as being an “Analyst Who Thinks” and “the first time any major Wall Street research firm had dared question Enron’s valuation.” Gagliardi is also known for alerting investors as early as 2003 ahead of buying opportunities in emerging markets: Brazil’s Petrobras, Russia’s Lukoil, China’s PetroChina, Austria’s OMV, and Hungary’s MOL. Gagliardi has been cited throughout the media including CNBC, NY Times, Forbes, and Financial Times.

“We’re thrilled to have Lou champion our Energy effort and add to our growing platform; he brings experience across investment analysis and corporate, a stellar track record, and a history of thinking independently on behalf of his clients.” Keith McCullough, CEO of Hedgeye notes, “To that end, we’re confident that his standards and expertise will hold up to our client’s expectations, and our reputation.”

Hedgeye Risk Management will officially launch its Energy sector research and services to subscribers on September 16, 2010.

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The first change is a shift in the assets under management thresholds that determine SEC vs. state registration. The new requirements will have IAs with under $100 million AUM register with the state and those above $100 million AUM register with the SEC. There is an exception for private fund managers which will not have to register with the SEC until they reach the $150 million AUM threshold. The Private Fund Managers Exemption from registration for private funds with fewer than 15 clients has been removed completely, so unless the private fund manager is eligible for an alternative exemption, this asset threshold will determine registration.

Additional exemptions are outlined below, along with a summary of the investment advisor registration process. The deadline by which to adhere to these changes will be July 21, 2011 and advisors should be mindful to factor into their timeline at least 45 days for their application to be reviewed. For more information on new regulations or assistance with state or SEC registration contact Accounting & Compliance International (ACI).

Investment Advisor Registration Requirements In More Detail

Investment Advisor Registration (The Old Way)
Previously, IAs with $25 million AUM or less were required to register with the state and those with $30 million or more to register with the SEC. Many hedge funds, private equity funds, and venture capital funds that would meet the definition of an investment under the Advisers Act avoided registration through the Private Fund Manager Exemption Section 203(b)(3) which exempted firms with fewer than 15 clients from having to register with the SEC so long as they did not hold themselves out as an investment advisor. The definition of a client allowed a fund to be counted as only one client, so this exemption protected many private fund advisors from registration.

AUM Registration Status
< $25 Million State RIA

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HedgeCo Blogs – I asked Andrew Ross Sorkin: “In hindsight, what is the most important lesson to be learned from the financial crisis?”

“It all comes back to one word: debt.” Sorkin said, “We can blame the financial crisis on a lot of things — misguided housing policy, too-low interest rates, global imbalances, lax regulation, bankers-gone-wild — but in the end, it was a function of an over-leveraged system.”

Andrew Sorkin, the award winning financial reporter for the New York Times, spent over five hundred hours interviewing high net worth individuals, advisers and officials in an effort to capture the full account of the Financial crisis in detail.

In his book: “Too Big To Fail – The inside story on how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system – and themselves”, Sorkin recounts the maelstrom that struck high finance in 2008 in story-like detail.

I can see why it has been on the bestseller list for over 23 weeks. Once revealed, it is hard to look away from the secret life of those in power. “Pay very much attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Sorkin is also the editor and founder of Dealbook, an online daily financial report. He has won a Gerald Loeb Award, been named Young Global Leader by The World Economic Forum and has recently been added to The Directorship 100, which recognizes influential US corporate boardroom members.

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“White-collar crime is just as destructive to our social fabric as the crimes of drugs and violence,” the Judge said in handing down the sentence. Moffat’s conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. His securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million.

Moffat pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and securities fraud stemming from his involvement in the largest US hedge fund insider trading case in history.

The court documents reveal that in September 2008, Moffat provided Chiesi with insider information in August to October 2008, relating to IBM and Lenovo Group Ltd.

Moffat confessed to providing the indider information to to Danielle Chiesi, Rajaratnam’s co-defendant. She worked for New Castle Partners, an equity hedge fund group affiliated with JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Chiesi, along with Sri Lankan billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, are scheduled for trial in 2011.

Moffat said he did not use the information to make money, but that he passed it along to Chiesi through “misplaced trust” and “a misguided desire to appear important and knowledgeable.” the Courthouse News Services said.

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• the acquisition by Peakside of BofAML’s 100% indirect interest in the general partner of the Merrill Lynch European Real Estate Opportunity Fund L.P. (“MLEREOF”), which has a total of EUR 261 million ($335.6 million) of capital commitments;
• the replacement of an affiliate of BofAML with Peakside as the manager of MLEREOF;
• the acquisition by Peakside of BofAML’s interests in the general partner and investment manager of the Bosphorus Real Estate Fund I (“BREF”), which has a total of EUR 204 million ($262 million) of capital commitments; and
• the completion of a portfolio management agreement between Peakside and an affiliate of BofAML for Peakside to manage a portfolio of European real estate investments held directly or indirectly by BofAML affiliates.

The Fund portions of this transaction have been approved, with the requisite voting percentages, by the limited partners of both the MLEREOF and BREF funds. In connection with the transaction, MLEREOF will be renamed “Peakside Real Estate Fund I”. BofAML plans to maintain its limited partnership positions in both funds following the transaction.

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