BarclayHedge Blog

From the Second Quarter, 2010 issue of Barclay Managed Funds Report. The full report also includes 24 hedge fund and managed futures performance ranking tables and in-depth manager profiles. Subscribe. View Roundtables from back issues.

Chances are the world would just as soon forget the 2008 market turmoil that
sent the global economy into a spiral and may have forever changed the way that global markets operate. The strong rebound that has ensued through the first quarter of 2010, along with an improving economic picture, certainly has gone a long way toward sending that episode into the history books.

Healthy aftermath are words that are rarely uttered in tandem, but they may best describe where we are today because of 2008. Significant excesses have been removed from the markets,valuations of many securities have returned to realistic levels, and much needed regulatory reform may be on the way. As a corollary to healthy aftermath, weak companies with no prospects have been forced to disappear, while promising companies, albeit temporarily bruised, offer significant opportunities
in the form of distressed investment strategies.

Since declining by 31.70% in 2008, the Barclay Distressed Securities Index has
gained 30.89% in 2008 and an additional 6.55% in the first quarter of 2010. Has the
easy money been taken off the table or are we still in the early stages of a much
larger trend?

To the untrained eye, today’s distressed environment may appear too complex and beyond the scope of ability for the average investor. To the experienced distressed hedge fund manager, however, the current opportunity set is unprecedented and ripe with profit potential. To discuss the current environment for distressed investing and review the opportunity set in more detail we have assembled a panel of expert managers.

Our panel includes:

Oren M. Cohen, Brownstone Asset Management, L.P.
Howard Golden and Kevin Wyman, Southpaw Asset Management, L.P.
Robert L. Rauch, Gramercy Advisors LLC.

The complete article will be available on the BarclayHedge.com website in August 2010. Subscribe to receive each issue of the Barclay Managed Funds Report as it comes out.