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Walking into a conference knowing you are probably one of the poorest people there by at least several million dollars is a surreal feeling. But that's how it goes for journalists who attend hedge fund industry events like the Bloomberg Hedge Funds Summit, held Tuesday at the Signature Theatre in New York. Once you make your way past the snack bar - stocked with kale and beet chips, Naked juice, artisanal cookies and a make-your-own parfait station - you find yourself amid a swirl of pastel or bold patterned HermĂŠs ties under navy pinstriped suits. You might even encounter a pair of opalescent rhinestoned stilettos (see below) on your way into the auditorium to hear some of the industry's biggest names talk shop.
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The finest in hedge funder fashion.
So what did they say? The big takeaway from the Summit was that the hedge fund community isn't exactly eager to enter into the mainstream and embrace the 'average' investor. ' don't want to take in large amounts of money in small tickets; they want to know their investors,' said Eric Siegel, global head of hedge fund research and management at Citi Private Pank. 'A lot of managers don't want to run that type of money.' So-called 'average' investors - which is to say someone who doesn't qualify as high net worth, such as, well, a twentysomething 401(k) participant at a media company - are clamoring for more liquid alternative products broadly, and hedge funds specifically. Essentially, average investors want the ability to invest in hedge funds, but they don't want to make the same longterm commitment that goes along with that type of investment. They want to be able to pull their money when they need cash or things go bad, which is something hedge funds can't afford to allow, as they need a stable pool of cash to survive and would risk collapse if there were to be a
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