The Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance (OMI) virtual ‘data lab’ will be powered by OneTick, a single solution for complex event processing (CEP), analytics and tick data created by OneMarketData, LLC.

“Markets are complex, evolving systems carrying a huge amount of data, Being able to access and manage financial and business data quickly is very important if we are to learn how to address the key problems associated with financial markets and risk in a way that has significant impact.” Professor Terry Lyons FRS, Director of the Oxford-Man Institute, said, “The new system will aid our researchers in gaining a better and deeper understanding of financial markets, their behaviour, their stability, and their inter-dependence.”

The data lab will mirror the systems already used by commercial financial institutions worldwide to capture, store and analyse vast amounts of financial data, educating the next generation with a range of tools they need to create new economic and trading strategies.

Researchers at the Institute carry out work on market volatility, hedge fund liquidity, credit default and systemic risk and are pioneers in computational techniques and new mathematics to optimise portfolios.

The theme of the event is “A Time for Heroes” in recognition of the outstanding football team and its foundation’s efforts to support child abuse prevention and treatment programs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The event will be held on April 18th at 4:30pm PST at The Bentley Reserve (301 Battery Street San Francisco, CA).

More than 400 hedge fund managers and investors are expected to attend the event which will feature cocktails, dinner, dessert, a silent auction, raffle and a wine-tasting with participation from more than 10 local wineries.

“This event gives the California hedge fund industry an unequaled opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to ending child abuse,” said event co-chair Elisabeth MacKnight, a Director of Business Development at Conifer, a San Francisco company that provides middle and back office support to hedge funds. Last year’s event raised $755,000 in contributions from more than 450 attendees.

Co-chair Peter Lardner, a Managing Director of Prime Brokerage Services at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco, praised the on-going support by the 49ers and its foundation. “This is the eleventh year that Hedge Funds Care and the 49ers have been in partnership to raise funds for this important cause,” said Mr. Lardner. “They have been with us from the beginning.” he added.

A limited number of tickets and sponsorships are still available. For more information, please click here.

About Hedge Funds Care

Hedge Funds Care is an international charity dedicated to funding programs focused on preventing and treating child abuse. Since its inception in 1998, Hedge Funds Care has awarded over 820 grants totaling $29 million. Hedge Funds Care is the only grant making public charity that focuses exclusively on funding this cause. Funds for Hedge Funds Care are also raised through events in more than 11 cities in the US, the UK, Canada, and Cayman Islands, and granted to community organizations addressing this issue.

About The San Francisco 49ers Foundation

The San Francisco 49ers Foundation is the non-profit community funding extension of the San Francisco 49ers. Now in its 20th year, the 49ers Foundation supports development programs for underserved youth that keep them “Safe, On Track, and In School”. The San Francisco 49ers are promoting RESPECT for schools and community by donating a significant portion of the foundation’s funding toward family violence prevention programs and activities that teach youth leadership and respect. Since 1992, the Foundation has donated over $16 million to support non-profits, including $2.4 million in 2011.

This conference is unique because it is the first hedge fund conference to donate all proceeds to philanthropy.  There are a number of high profile speakers including Seth Klarman (President, the Baupost Group), Barbara Novick (Vice Chairman, BlackRock), and David Abrams (Founder, Abrams Capital Management).

Featured topics include:

* Has macroeconomic volatility altered the fundamentals of long/short strategies and bottoms up investing?
* Have regulatory shifts altered how funds and allocators participate in the political process?
* Asset Allocators: Does the Yale-model still apply post-crisis?
* Rethinking Capitalism & Shared Values: What is the new nexus of social enterprise and commercial enterprise?
* Impact Investing: Finding the next generation of double bottom-line returns.

The entire ticket purchase is a donation and tax deductible (less the cost of goods and services received of $75 per ticket)! This event is open to the public, men and women are welcome. Registration.

“We are proud to be a part of one of the largest international associations of accounting firms in the world,” said Nick Decosimo, firmwide managing principal of Decosimo and Moore Stephen North America board member. “The added resources and expertise available to us through our association with Moore Stephens is a true benefit to our clients operating in a global environment.”

MSIL is an international association of accounting firms comprising 301 independent firms with 636 offices worldwide, including the regional accounting firm Decosimo.

“With a growth of nearly 7 percent in a difficult year, there was progress in a number of areas. However, with the market changing, we need to focus on our strategic aims and make significant steps forward in the next few years.” Richard Moore, chairman of Moore Stephens International Limited, added.

Perennially ranked as a Top 100 public accounting firm in the United States with offices strategically located in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio and the Cayman Islands, Decosimo provides assurance, tax and advisory services to clients throughout the world. Decosimo serves domestic and international clients operating in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, consumer finance, healthcare, alternative investment, captive insurance, entertainment/sports, construction, real estate, restaurant and hospitality, government and not-for-profit. As an independent firm associated with Moore Stephens International Limited, Decosimo is able to offer a global reach while maintaining a local perspective.

Robert Sucarato, 42, of Holmdel, N.J., previously pleaded guilty before the Judge to one count of wire fraud.

“Sucarato’s NYFC was purportedly a capital management and financial consulting firm with offices in New York City and Chicago.” Documents filed in this case reported. “Sucarato admitted he had established a “virtual office” in New York, which allowed him to claim a prestigious mailing address. The office space, conference rooms, and receptionists were shared with many other companies for a nominal rent.”

“Sucarato misrepresented that NYFC was registered as an investment advisor and portfolio manager; misrepresented his educational and professional background; falsely listed certain individuals as officers and managers of NYFC who were not; and otherwise created the false impression that NYFC was a successful, well-established and “leading capital management and financial consulting firm … with offices in New York and Chicago,” with superior management and a staff of “over 20 experienced traders.” The court heard.

Sucarato established two hedge funds – the NYFC Strategic Fund and the NYFC Diversified Strategic Fund. Sucarato admitted that he solicited investors through his website, falsely claiming that he had over $7.2 billion in assets under management. Sucarato created a false audit report, purportedly prepared by a major accounting firm, which falsely indicated that NYFC had a net worth of $798 million.

Investors provided Sucarato with more than $1.6 million. He deposited victims’ investments in bank accounts he controlled, and then transferred the victims’ money between those bank accounts so that he could use the money for personal expenses. Sucarato spent the investors’ money at various retail establishments, including Macy’s, Vermont Teddy Bear and L.L. Bean.

The last time Citigroup told shareholders how its Citi Capital Advisors hedge fund group (CCA) performed was the first quarter of 2008, when the unit lost $509 million.

Citigroup told the magazine that the bank planned to sell a “significant” portion of its hedge fund group (CCA)  to managers of the group.

This decision to sell the hedge and private-equity funds comes at a time when Citigroup is still recovering taking $45 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, $99 billion in loans from the Federal Reserve and $301 billion in government asset guarantees to stay alive.

Other highlights Bloomberg uncovered include:

In the third quarter of 2011, CEO Vikram Pandit invested $800 million of the bank’s own money — not cash from investors or clients — into CCA, even as traders from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and other banks were jumping ship to start their own hedge funds in advance of the Volcker rule. The Volcker rule says a deposit-taking bank’s proprietary capital can’t account for more than 3 percent of any hedge fund.

The worst performer among the seven largest funds last year was the Strategic Credit Fund, which lost 14.2 percent, according to people who were solicited to invest. Credit funds, on average, climbed 1.5 percent in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $200 million fund is run by Fred Hoffman and manages mostly Citi capital.

The $400 million Mortgage/Credit Opportunity Fund, managed by Rajesh Kumar, lost 4.2 percent in 2011, including a 10 percent dive in August. The loss is striking because mortgage funds were the best performers among hedge funds, gaining an average of 14.5 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

Torre will receive the award at the 14th Annual New York Open Your Heart to the Children Benefit on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at Cipriani 42nd Street. The evening will feature hors d’oeuvres,  food stations, desserts, silent auction, a raffle, Scotch tasting, and Torre will  speak briefly about his experience with abuse as a child.

Jay Peller, Managing Director, Citco Fund Services and Joe Fisher, Partner, Deloitte will co-chair this special event.

This year’s raffle features two destination prizes: a 3 night stay at The One and Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas (Grand Prize) and a 3 night stay at the Banyan Tree Mayakoba (Riviera Maya, Mexico). Sponsorship form here (PDF).

“Seasonally adjusted, February continues the recent trend of very low redemption levels,” said Hans Hufschmid, chief executive officer, GlobeOp Financial Services.

The Indicator represents the sum of forward redemption notices received from investors in hedge funds administered by GlobeOp, divided by the AuA at the beginning of the month for GlobeOp fund administration clients. Forward redemptions as a percentage of GlobeOp assets under administration have trended significantly lower since reaching a high of 19.27% in November 2008.

GlobeOp’s data represents approximately 8-10% of the hedge fund industry, with $173 billion in Assets under Administration.

New York Judge Robert W. Sweet issued an Opinion in favor of the SEC finding that United Kingdom-based hedge fund adviser Pentagon Capital Management PLC (PCM) and Lewis Chester, PCM’s Chief Executive Officer, engaged in securities fraud in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The SEC filed a civil action in April 2008 against United Kingdom-based hedge fund adviser Pentagon Capital Management PLC (PCM) and its Chief Executive Officer, Lewis Chester.

The complaint alleges that PCM and Chester orchestrated a scheme to defraud mutual funds in the United States and their shareholders through late trading and deceptive market timing. PCM’s advisory client, Pentagon Special Purpose Fund, Ltd., obtained approximately $62 million in illicit profits through this scheme, at the expense of U.S. mutual funds and their shareholders.

Judge Sweet found that Defendants PCM and Chester orchestrated a scheme to defraud mutual funds in the United States through late trading from February 2001 through September 2003.

Late trading refers to the practice of placing orders to buy, redeem, or exchange U.S. mutual fund shares after the time as of which the funds calculate their net asset value (usually as of the close of trading at 4:00 p.m. ET), but receiving the price based on the net asset value already determined as of 4:00 p.m. ET. Judge Sweet found that the Defendants “intentionally, and egregiously violated the federal securities laws through a scheme of late trading” through broker-dealer Trautman Wasserman & Company, Inc. (TW&Co.), and found that the scheme was “broad ranging over the course of several years and in no sense isolated.”

Judge Sweet further found PCM and Chester, together with Relief Defendant Pentagon Special Purpose Fund, Ltd., PCM’s advisory client, jointly and severally liable for disgorgement of $38,416,500 of profits from the U.S. mutual fund trades executed through TW&Co. plus prejudgment interest. Finally, Judge Sweet imposed civil penalties against Defendants in the amount of $38,416,500, equal to Defendants’ pecuniary gain for late trades through TW&Co.

The Court found in Defendants’ favor regarding charges of deceptive market timing of U.S. mutual funds.

The SEC alleges in a complaint dated February 10, that Whitman and Whitman Capital obtained insider information on Google and Polycom from an individual investor named Roomy Khan. The two conducted their business on Skype to avoid detection, the SEC said.

Whitman Capital hedge funds reaped approximately $980,000 in ill-gotten profits.

In addition to tipping Whitman, the SEC says that Khan also passed the material nonpublic information that she obtained concerning Polycom and Google to investment professionals at other hedge fund advisers, including Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon Management LP., and Jeffrey Yokuty and Robert Feinblatt of Trivium Capital Management LLC. Like Whitman and Whitman Capital, both Galleon and Trivium used this information to reap sizable profits for the hedge funds they managed.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctions against each of the defendants, enjoining them from engaging in the transactions, acts, practices, and courses of business alleged in the SEC complaint; disgorgement of ill-gotten gains or losses avoided from the unlawful insider trading activity, together with prejudgment interest and civil penalties.