Michael Spak, one of the three partners in the fund, reported Zuck to the FBI. He said that the situation was currently under investigation. Osiris was started in 2009 and Spak told FINalternatives, “The fund is a ‘hedged’ fund in the truest sense of the word. Our team’s objective is to immunize the volatility of the portfolio which in turn allows us to produce better than average returns consistently.”

Interestingly enough, according to Bloomberg data, the fund ranked third out of 3,527 top performing global hedge funds in April 2010. Since the start of the investigation, no money has been recovered and Zuck is nowhere to be found.

It was announced that Zuck was arrested in 1995 and spent over a year in jail for “misconduct by a corporate official.” Hedge fund operational due diligence would have revealed these public records as well as identified any other questionable aspects of the fund to investors. Investors should be wary of investing in a fund without performing any bit of ops dd because fraud is much more common than we think…

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink

Due Diligence News is a look into the world of operational due diligence. It contains current articles relevant to the industry, as well as links to  different blogs. The email also contains a listing of industry events and news specific to Corgentum. It will be issued on a monthly basis.

You can become a subscriber by clicking on the Contact section of the Corgentum Consulting website.

Corgentum will also release its new monthly newsletter, Operational Due Diligence Insights in February. The newsletter will contain original content featuring accounting and back office due diligence insights, fund regulatory and compliance developments, information security, and Corgentum Managing Partner Jason Scharfman’s Private Equity Operational Due Diligence book release details.

Check out the Corgentum Consulting website for future information on their quarterly webinar series planned for March.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink

At the panel sessions, it is anticipated that Mr. Scharfman will focus the discussion on upcoming trends in operational risk in alternative investments including hedge funds and private equity funds. Other topics which are anticipated to be discussed include the role of operational due diligence consultants such as Corgentum in designing a comprehensive operational due diligence solution, and operational due diligence challenges institutional investors can expect in 2012.

The panel Mr. Scharfman will moderate will be entitled, “Investing in Alternatives” and will take place on Wednesday February 15, 2012 at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans, LA.

To register for the event here, please visit the conference website.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

The panel will be entitled, “Hedge Fund Opportunities” will take place on Friday March 2, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York, NY.

It is anticipated that Mr. Scharfman will discuss evolving trends in hedge fund operational due diligence for 2012, the benefit to investors towards working with operational due diligence consultants such as Corgentum, and the benefits of incorporating risk considerations into the hedge fund portfolio construction process.

To register for the event here, please click here.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

A jury recently handed down a sentence which found that the Galleon Group’s founder Raj Rajaratnam was convicted of insider trading. Bloomberg is reporting that jury never argued during 12 days of secret deliberations that he was innocent.  Instead the focus was on what sentence to give Rajaratnam. Here is a post about the Galleon verdict entitled, Galleon’s Fait Accompli : Investor’s Move the Dial Towards a Conservative Approach to Hedge Fund Research, on the Corgentum Consulting blog and some videos from the trail and verdict:

http://youtu.be/YKbqdE_BA5w

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

The article is entitled, “Protection Racket – Investors rely on independent administrators like Citco to okay hedge fund books. But who’s watching these bookkeepers?” .

The article features Corgentum Consulting Managing Partner, Jason Scharfman discussing the role of hedge fund administrators in the investor operational due diligence process. Mr. Scharfman says, “ Part of the reason big-name administrators are winning more hedge fund assets is that they offer a false appearance of comfort and illusions of due diligence. Investors are still very much on their own in the hedge fund arena, ” says Mr. Scharfman.

The full article can be read on Forbes.com , in print editions of Forbes magazine for the week of April 25, 2011 or via direct link.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

A new article this week in HFMWeek focuses on operational risk and operational due diligence in hedge funds. Corgentum Consulting Managing Partner, Jason Scharfman is featured this week in the article.

In the article, which is entitled “Focus on Operational Risk” Mr. Scharfman discusses the enhanced focus which investors and hedge funds have placed on operational risk management and operational due diligence in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Mr. Scharfman also cites Corgentum’s proprietary research which demonstrates an increasing trend that managers with weaker operational infrastructures demonstrate lower performance as opposed to those with stronger operations. Other key operational risk considerations outlined by Mr. Scharfman in the article include:

• The presence of conflicts of interest related to providing operational due diligence services to both hedge funds and investors
• The dangers of over reliance on hedge fund regulation to supplant investor’s own due diligence efforts
• Ways in which investors can benefit from having an independent third party consultant such as Corgentum assisting with operational due diligence reviews
• The benefits to a hedge fund’s operations of proper internal resource allocation and management oversight

The article can be found in print editions of HFMWeek at HFMWeek.com, or via direct link.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

Corgentum Consulting

Understanding Your Hedge Fund’s Approach To Prime Brokerage also discusses investor operational due diligence considerations for utilizing multiple prime brokers, the role of introducting prime brokers and bundled prime brokerage services.

The paper can be found in the Research section of the corgentum.com website, or via direct link here.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

Opal Financial Group’s investment consultants conference provides a unique environment for developing dialogue between plan sponsors, managers and consultants. The role of the institutional consultant is more important than ever in making investment decisions, often being asked to take on more than just the evaluation of investment managers. This event will feature panel-driven discussions focused on specific investment techniques of fixed income and hedge fund managers, the evolving role of institutional consultants, the manager evaluation process, transition management, investing in global markets, and more.

The event will take place on March 7, 2011 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. To register for the event here, please click here.

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.

The recent comments of Jason Scharfman, Corgentum Consulting Managing Partner regarding the enhanced focus being placed by investors on hedge fund operational risk were outlined in Risk.net’s Operational Risk & Regulation Journal in an article entitled, Operational infrastructure at hedge funds comes under closer scrutiny .

Topics outlined by Mr. Scharfman in the article include:

• Continued failures of many hedge fund with in regards to documenting operational policies
• Benefits of hedge funds emphasizing their operational strengths and openly discussing operational weaknesses
• The false artifical operational floor of Dodd-Frank legislation
• Inherent benefits of investors develop dialogues concerning operational risks with their hedge fund managers

The full article can be read on the Risk.net’s Operational Risk & Regulation website (subscription required).

Click here to discuss this post.

Permalink.