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Hedge fund boxers punch, dodge hits for charity
Twelve men from various financial firms in Hong Kong gathered to fight in three two-minute-rounds to pick a winner and raise money for two charities to help young people
By Bob Chen
BLOOMBERG
Sunday, Nov 01, 2009, Page 12
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Contestants slug it out in the ring at the Hedge Fund Fund Night in Hong Kong on Thursday.
PHOTO: AFP
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Pumping the bandaged hand of John Crane, a beaming Perry Pritchard said: “I had money on you and you saved me a fortune, mate.”
Pritchard, a director at the brokerage ITG Hong Kong Ltd, played the odds last night and placed his bet of HK$1,500 (US$194) on 3A Asia Ltd’s Crane, the oldest boxer at Hong Kong’s Hedge Fund Fight Night, because “he looked pumped.”
At the black-tied charity event attended by about 720 members of the city’s hedge-fund industry, the 49-year-old, 69kg Crane beat his heavier, 32-year-old challenger, Justin “Carve ‘em Up” Jones of ICAP PLC in three, two-minute rounds.
“He got in the ring and gave it all,” Pritchard said. “He stayed on his feet. And that’s why my money came home.”
The same might be said for the hedge funds. After suffering their worst year on record last year, the industry had its best nine-month performance in a decade this year through September, according to Eurekahedge Pte. The company forecasts industry assets will exceed US$1.5 trillion by the end of the year.
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Patrons eat dinner at the Hedge Fund Fight Night 2009 charity boxing event in Hong Kong on Thursday.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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About a fifth of Asia’s US$126 billion in hedge-fund assets was managed in Hong Kong as of December, more than other cities in the region, figures from Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Eurekahedge show.
In another sign confidence is returning to Asia, a former executive of Citadel Investment Group LLC is preparing to open the largest Asia-focused hedge-fund startup since May 2007 with the backing of Blackstone Group LP, people familiar with the plan said earlier this month.
“This is a tough year but we are doing fine with the hedges and the shorts,” said Benoit “La Tornade” Descourtieux, manager of the Calypso Asia Fund, which bets on stock prices and their derivatives. “The aim is the same as in the ring, to survive because there is going to be more volatility and you don’t want to get punched in the face.”
Descourtieux, 46, lost his fight by judges’ decision to Jesse “Happy Feet” Kavanagh, a 34-year old tax lawyer at Nomura Holdings Inc who took up the challenge of training after recovering from cancer and open-heart surgery.
During the charity auction to raise HK$1 million for Operation Smile and Operation Breakthrough, guests bid on pheasant-shooting trips in southern China and a six-night stay at the Whistler Ski Chalet in Canada. The most-expensive lot of HK$150,000 was for a five-course lunch for 12 prepared by Relish Kitchen in the Dragon Garden historical site in Hong Kong where Roger Moore shot a scene from the 1974 James Bond movie, The Man With The Golden Gun, organizer IronMonger Events Ltd said.
The money raised help repair children’s facial deformities and combat crime and juvenile delinquency in low-income and immigrant communities, IronMonger said.
“It’s important for the industry to give something back to the community,” Pritchard said.
Laughter and loud chatter filled the tent at the Happy Valley Racecourse, against the thumping beat of rock music and tracks like Eye of the Tiger as guests and their companions hobnobbed between courses of grilled Angus sirloin with lobster and foie gras and apricot compote. Champagne flowed and neon glasses of tequila shots bobbed in the dimmed space as the fighters emerged amidst gusts of dry ice to wild cheers.
One of the most-anticipated bouts was between South African Jacques “Sugarbok” Scherman of Sovereign Group and Jacco “The Punching Dutchman” Klip of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Scherman, a 183cm, 86kg trust-and-tax lawyer, outlasted his older opponent, making up for his weaker defenses with more frequent jabs. Fighters scored on hits to the face, chest and stomach as a medical team looked on during the bouts.
“My opponent fought very well. He’s a much bigger guy than me and he’s heavier. He matched me shot for shot,” said Scherman, 34, after the match.
Scherman said even though he’s worried about walking into the office “with a black eye,” he’s glad he won and that his five-month training has ended.
“I’ll start off with drinking a lot of beer,” he said.
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