Bridgewater Capital

Bridgewater Capital | Hedge Fund Notes

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Resource #1: (9.1.09) Bridgewater Associates held on to its place as the largest hedge fund firm in the U.S., and is also the most highly-rated among investors, according to a pair of new surveys. Bridgewater tops the semiannual Billion Dollar Club survey with $37 billion, according to AR magazine. That’s down 4.15% since January and 14.94% since last July.

The rest of the BDC’s top four remained unchanged, as well. JPMorgan Chase held on to second place, rising 9.42% over the last six months to $36 billion, with Paulson & Co. at third with $27.2 billion, D.E. Shaw Group in fourth with $26.7 billion and Soros Fund Management at five with $24 billion.

All told, the BDC manages a combined 4.4% less than six months ago, down to just $1.08 trillion. Just a year ago, the biggest U.S. hedge funds managed $1.7 trillion. Source

Resource #2: (4.3.09) Bridgewater Associates Inc, one of the world's biggest hedge-fund managers, said on Tuesday it might be interested in participating in the U.S. Treasury's public-private investment program, calling it a "big transfer of money from the government to the banks and to the buyers."

Bridgewater manages roughly $80 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, including foreign governments and central banks.

In a letter to clients, Bridgewater said its interest in buying the distressed assets under the terms being offered would depend on the pricing and on "whether we can get over our fears of partnering with the government." source

Resource #2: (2.5.09) Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates Inc. overtook JPMorgan Chase & Co. to become the biggest U.S. hedge-fund manager, even as the firm lost assets during the industry’s worst year, according to a survey.

Bridgewater, based in Westport, Connecticut, managed $38.6 billion on Jan. 1, down 11 percent from July, according to Absolute Return magazine. New York-based JPMorgan, which owns Highbridge Capital Management LLC, ranked second at $32.9 billion, a decline of 26 percent.

“The bulk of hedge funds were delivering returns that were highly correlated with the market,” said Sharath Sury, chief executive officer of S4 Capital LLC, a Chicago-based firm that advises clients on investing. “So when the markets fell, so did their assets.” source

Resource #3: (12.8.08) At a time when many pension plans are taking a step back from their alternative portfolios, one is going full steam ahead. The $30 billion Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System has committed a total of $344 million to four hedge and private equity funds.

On the hedge fund front, TRS has increased the mandate held by fund of funds shop K2 Advisors—currently $236 million—to $336 million. In addition, the plan hired Bridgewater Associates to directly manage a $179 million absolute return mandate. Bridgewater currently manages a $506 million global tactical asset allocation mandate within the plan’s real return portfolio. Both mandates will be funded from the plan’s the fixed income portfolio. source

Resource #4: (12.508) It’s not a bridge over troubled water, per se, but Bridgewater Associates is having a mixed 2008 in terms of returns.

While Bridgewater’s $58 billion Pure Alpha Strategy is in the black, rising 6.8% through October, its All Weather Portfolio hasn’t fared as well. The $13 billion multi-strategy fund has dropped 29% through October.

The firm told FINalternatives that the All Weather Strategy is a passive portfolio of stocks, bonds and commodities that reflects the returns of a diversified portfolio of asset classes. source

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