Were The Motley Fool not a family-oriented financial website, I might have classified this under something stronger than the "What the heck?" category. Hedge funds, those sinister financial creations of the uber-rich, have apparently decided that stodgy, straight-laced confabs are sooo last century. No longer satisfied with the mystery of backroom deals and shadowy billionaire financiers, the industry is apparently ready to remake itself as a rollicking road show, complete with a charity concert from aging rockers, a counterculture mentality (perhaps not unwarranted), and an opportunity to network with industry luminaries.
"Hedgestock 2006" is the hedge fund industry's answer to the "Predator's Ball" that junk-bond king Drexel Burnham used to throw to woo corporate takeover artists like Michael Milken in the 1980s. The event will be held on the pastoral estate of the Knebworth House in England, and its sponsor hopes to make it the premier hedge-fund-industry trade show of Europe. The grounds have been the site of many rock concerts over the years, featuring groups such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, and more. While there will be many acts performing this year (though I'm not quite sure what a "hedge-fund-related band" is) Hedgestock's party should fit right in. It's just that the white-shoe types at Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER ) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH ) , who are listed as Founding Sponsors, might look out of place wearing "love beads" and flashing a peace sign.
Hedge funds are similar to mutual funds in that investors pool their money together to have it professionally managed. But the similarities end there. Whereas mutual funds are heavily regulated, particularly in the types of investments they can make, hedge funds are virtually unregulated. They can go long and short on stocks (mutual funds generally can't go short), and use leverage, derivatives, and other sophisticated strategies to generate high returns for their investors. While the original purpose of a hedge fund was to "hedge" against the risk of a bear market, they've since expanded far beyond that scope.
Oh, and you'll need a lot of cash if you want to participate. Regular Joes and Janes need not apply; generally, you have to earn more than $200,000 a year and have a net worth in excess of $1 million. I'd have to dig around under my sofa cushions for quite a while to meet those standards.
Now, in addition to being exceptionally wealthy, hedge fund investors have access to tony English-countryside estates, aging rockers (Roger Daltrey of The Who will be headlining this year's Hedgestock), and charity balls. (The event's net proceeds are apparently earmarked to a charity for teenage cancer patients.) While channeling the feel-good, free love memories of a 1960s icon sounds like a grand time, hedge funds and hippies seem just a bit incompatible, philosophically.
Then again, who knows? Maybe 2006 will be a Summer of Love for hedge funds.
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Fool contributor Rich Duprey does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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