US insider trading probe takes toll on small funds
Technology-focused hedge fund STG Capital, which did business with an expert network firm that has figured prominently in an ongoing US insider trading investigation, is shutting down, said people familiar with the situation.
February 01, 2011 / 11:52 IST
Technology-focused hedge fund STG Capital, which did business with an expert network firm that has figured prominently in an ongoing US insider trading investigation, is shutting down, said people familiar with the situation.
Steven T Glass, the founder of STG, which once had more than USD 200 million under management, notified investors last week he was shutting down his fund, said one investor familiar with the situation, who declined to be identified.STG is the second New York hedge fund to shut down in the wake of a series of arrests of people associated with Primary Global Research, a California-based expert network firm that matches hedge funds with industry consultants.The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Barai Capital Management, a small USD 80 million hedge fund raided by federal agents in November, is also closing.Four people familiar with the investigation said both STG and Barai regularly employed Primary Global consultants to gather information on tech stocks.Glass said in an email that his fund's relationship with Primary Global had nothing to do with the closing, but he declined to elaborate."You are factually incorrect in much of that, sir," he said. "As I informed our investors last week, assets were not at a critical mass to sustain the business."SNAIL'S PACEGlass opened the fund in 2002 after a stint as a trader at Kingdon Capital Management. He also previously worked at Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG. Glass' fund, which most recently had about USD 150 million, was up about 8% last year, said an investor source. That compares with gains of about 17% in the tech-heavy Nasdaq.According to SEC filings, some of STG's top stock holdings as of September 30 were STG Semiconductor Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Apple Inc.The closing of STG Capital was reported last week by Dealbreaker.com. The popular Wall Street blog did not offer any explanation for the closing of the fund, which takes its name from its founders initials.Neither Glass nor anyone associated with STG has been charged in the investigation, which involves allegations of industry consultants passing on confidential corporate information to hedge fund traders and analysts.So far, at least eight people with links to Primary Global have been charged with helping to leak confidential information to hedge fund customers. Federal prosecutors have also secured guilty pleas from a number of cooperating witnesses and sources say authorities are likely to make a new round of arrests in coming weeks.The USD 1.9 trillion hedge fund world was rocked in November when agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided three funds in connection with the insider trading investigation on November 22. Soon after, federal prosecutors in New York sent out dozen of subpoenas to hedge funds and mutual funds that did business with a variety of expert network firms and consultants, including Primary Global.But the investigation, which began with a bang, has since moved along at a snail's pace. Securities lawyers said that is not unexpected given that authorities tend to focus on lower-level suspects first."Prosecutors sometimes go after smaller funds and companies in the hopes that those companies will cooperate and provide evidence against larger firms," said Robert Heim, a securities lawyer and former assistant regional director with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Meanwhile, the three hedge fund raided by the FBI on November 22 -- Diamondback Capital Management, Level Global and Loch Capital Management -- all have denied any wrongdoing.Earlier this month, Reuters reported that a fourth hedge fund was raided by the FBI, but the fund's name remained a mystery. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the mystery fund was Barai Capital, a small hedge fund founded by Samir Barai, formerly with Citigroup Inc.Evan Barr, an attorney for Barai, declined to comment on the investigation.Barai founded his fund after leaving Citigroup's alternative investment group. In December, federal prosecutors charged Winifred Jiau, a Primary Global consultant, with passing on confidential information to the founder of an unnamed hedge fund. People familiar with the investigation confirmed the Journal's report the unnamed hedge fund is Barai's. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
