AIMA

14 October 2008

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Managed Funds Association (MFA) released the following joint statement today in response to comments yesterday by Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti who said Italy may push for the abolition of hedge funds.

AIMA, headquartered in London, and MFA, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA, are the world’s two leading hedge fund associations.

Florence Lombard, AIMA CEO, and Richard H. Baker, MFA President and CEO, made the following statement:

"Hedge funds are private pools of capital that play a vital role in the global economy.  This is a time of unprecedented instability in the markets; not a time to think about abolishing an industry that is an essential source of liquidity.  In the midst of this global financial crisis, the hedge fund industry is fully engaged with regulators and policy makers to provide solutions that will benefit the markets and help to stabilize the global economy.

Hedge funds are entrepreneurial organizations that provide investment capital to help create new businesses and to help rebuild ailing businesses. They also provide critical risk management tools to institutional investors such as pensions and endowments and help them to meet their future funding obligations to retirees and college students. The positive returns that hedge fund managers generate for investors are more critical than ever, and any losses that occur are never linked to taxpayer dollars.

It is too easy to point a finger at an industry that is misunderstood; hedge funds are not an appropriate scapegoat during a crisis that was caused by failures in the regulated banking system.  In response to comments by Finance Minister Tremonti, the hedge fund industry in Italy is a model of successful regulation, provides excellent risk-adjusted returns for investors and is an important source for job creation.  It would be a serious mistake to consider eliminating these innovative private pools of capital that are, in fact, an essential source of capital to investors, to Italy and to the global economy." 

- Ends -

For further information from AIMA, please contact:
Eoin Brophy
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7499 87 36
Email: eoin.brophy@humebrophy.com

For MFA media inquiries:
Meg Bode
MFA Media Relations
516-869-6610
meg@bodeassociates.com
 

Editors’ Notes:

About Alternative Investment Management Association
AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, has over 1,300 corporate members worldwide, based in 49 countries. Members include leading hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting services and fund administrators. They all benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals and its excellent reputation with regulators, worldwide.

AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its membership’s interests and provides them with a vibrant global network.  AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website www.aima.org

About Managed Funds Association
MFA’s members are professionals in hedge funds, funds of funds and managed futures funds, as well as industry service providers.  Established in 1991, MFA is the primary source of information for policy makers and the media and the leading advocate for sound business practices and industry growth. 

MFA members include the vast majority of the largest hedge fund groups in the world who manage a substantial portion of the approximately $2 trillion invested in absolute return strategies.  MFA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with an office in New York.  For more information, please visit: www.managedfunds.org.

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