Paulson Facing Frustration Among Investors Four Weeks Before World's Premier Hedge Funds Conference

Aug. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- (August 20, 2012, New York) CNBC’s Kate Kelly reflects on the many Paulson & Co.’s investors that hung with it last year despite an annus horribilis in which the company’s flagship hedge fund lost 35 percent. But with returns continuing to sag amid a rising equities market, some of those investors are now jumping ship and getting ready to find alternatives at Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, "Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016"

Citigroup announced last week that it was pulling Paulson off its hedge-fund investment platform and planned to take back $410 million in assets. Morgan Stanley’s brokerage firm has reportedly had the fund company on watch for possible removal from its hedge-fund platform for months now. And other investors big and small are considering redeeming their capital soon as well, say bank officials and fund of funds managers.

These developments come at a difficult time for John Paulson, the former Bear Stearns banker who opened his eponymous hedge fund eighteen years ago. Paulson has gone from managing more than $38 billion in assets at his company’s peak to $19.5 billion today. And while a number of his funds are up this year — including the merger fund, which is up 3.6 percent, and the recovery fund, which is up 3.9 percent — his flagship funds, which consist of holdings that represent an array of different strategies, continue to suffer.

So far this year, Paulson’s main flagship fund, known as Paulson Advantage, is down about 13 percent, according to people familiar with the matter, and its levered sibling, Paulson Advantage Plus, is down 18 percent. And while the so-called redemption window — the moment at which investors can pull back, or redeem, their capital from a hedge fund — varies for Paulson investors according to which fund they are in and when they invested, the protracted slump in the flagship funds is prompting hard looks at investor portfolios.

On September 25 in New York, October 9 in Chicago and December 12 in London, hundreds of the most important players in alternative investments will gather for all-star agendas at Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, "Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016" (http://www.HedgeFundsLeadersForum.com). A virtual who’s who will soon follow as one legendary manager after another will take the stage. Billions of investable assets will be represented by influential local and international investors who will listen with rapt attention as star managers and analysts discuss and debate the biggest issues facing the industry today.

Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, "Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016" will provide attendees in New York, Chicago and London with the most up-to-date review of where this ever-changing industry stands and how regulatory and alpha expectation s will impact it. Recognized managers, investors, experts, regulators, and strategists will return to Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012 to provide the information practitioners are looking for in an open and unbiased environment, highly conducive to the most efficient and effective networking.

Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012 is produced by Golden Networking , the premier networking community for business executives, entrepreneurs and investors. Panelists, speakers and sponsors are invited to contact Golden Networking by sending an email to info@goldennetworking.net.