Hedge Funds Rock 2014 – Australia

I was  a bit concerned  that our annual  Australian event had floundered due to industry and personal changes. I was glad to hear that the night is locked in and is ready to rock and roll.

Put it in your calendar, with the Westin Hotel as the venue,   for   Thursday   the   18th     of September. Carolyn  Dodds,  as usual,  is organising  the night. Carolynʼs   events,  whether for  the  Hedge  Fund Industry or charity, are always great entertainment and  fund  raising. Again  the  event  supports  Cure our  Kids,  a charity  providing  services  to children with cancer and to their families.

There are some changes to previous years. Rather than use a branded database for the awards assessment,  managers  must  log  on  and  submit their  own  data  to  qualify for the annual  awards. This puts the onus on managers to want to qualify. In previous years we would assess whether a manager was a hedge fund, or an alternative asset manager,  work out  the  award  recipient  and  ask them if they would participate in the awards. For a variety of   reasons,   some   elected   not   to   be recognised  by their  peers.  One  year,  a manager won their category, I called the manager, who declined to receive the award because he thought is was the kiss-of-death  for his performance.  After further consideration he called back and agreed to receive the award. We had a problem  as we had awarded  it to the second  place getter!  And, from memory, it was the kiss-of-death  as this manager is no longer in the business.

Here is the link to the website. http://www.hedgefundsrock.org

The manager login is on this page with the event details and early ticket sales. The login is not yet live, but will be shortly.  As an Australian  or New Zealand manager, if you want to qualify, please submit your data. On the previous separate committee, an Australian manager was defined as an entity that marketed in Australia and had a domestic  vehicle  or offshore vehicle  available  for investment.

Iʼd also like to mention  the committee.  One could say  that  they  are  a  likely  bunch  of  the usual suspects but in reality, it is an excellent collection of Australian industry veterans and new industry entrants.  You  would  recognise  a  lot  of  my  old colleagues,  Kim  Ivey,  John Corr,  Angela  Ashton and John Gregory. There are 10 additional industry identities working hard to assist Carolyn and come up with the award winners.

I have a feeling that this yearʼs event will be quite special. It seems to be well organised  in advance and   with   the  industry   making   a  comeback,   it augurs well for a great night.