Had this on the watch list too long and could kick my own ass if it was possible. I think this is just the type of play needed on these markets along with Value shares such as Churchill China that I recommended yesterday.

Heres just a brief background on the company.................

Hedge fund leads rush to float
by Louise Armitstead
RAB Capital is the first to plan a listing in London. Others are bound to follow

IN the spring of 1999 Philip Richards and Michael Alen-Buckley arrived almost empty-handed at their new office — a small room in 1 Adam Street, just off the Strand in central London.
The day — April Fools’ Day — seemed apt at the time. Richards and Alen-Buckley, both highly regarded bankers at Merrill Lynch, were giving up stellar careers to start their own hedge fund, RAB Capital. The only money they had was their own, and their staff consisted of one manager, a compliance officer and a secretary.

Five years on, the little room in 1 Adam Street, still RAB Capital’s main trading floor, albeit straining under a vastly expanded workforce, is again the engine room of an ambitious and pioneering venture.

Last week RAB Capital became the first stand-alone hedge-fund company to announce its intention to float in London.

Richards, 46, and Alen-Buckley, 43, will be at the helm of a company with a market value that could be as high as 100m. Their stakes could be worth 30m each. Advised by KBC Peel Hunt, the firm will release a prospectus tomorrow revealing how much money it intends to raise.

In the past five years, Richards, a former army officer, and Alen-Buckley, who is the son-in-law of the hotelier Lord Forte, have increased their funds under management from 4m to an estimated 1.1 billion. They have 40 staff (16 of them managers), 7 hedge funds and a track record that is the envy of the City.

RAB’s first fund, the European equities fund, which was launched in November 1999, has made returns of 84% despite the tumbling markets.

Floating will for the first time allow small investors to take part in the success of a hedge-fund boutique rather than investing in one fund.

But there is growing concern that they will also be exposed to risks that at the moment are restricted to professional investors.

Watching in the wings are hundreds of other hedge-fund managers, salivating at the thought of following RAB to market and realising the value of their businesses. Investment bankers and advisers are also rubbing their hands at the prospect of a spate of similar deals.

Two funds earmarked for flotation are Thames River Capital and GLG Partners, one of the biggest hedge funds in London, with about $8 billion under management. Experts say plenty of others are looking to float as a way of cashing in.

Richards and Alen-Buckley dismiss the suggestion that this is their motive for floating RAB. “Right from the start we wanted to create a long-term business and we’re here to stay,” said Richards. “Floating is an indication of our permanence. Neither one of us will be taking cash out. We are also doing this for our staff. We have given them options over the years and this will be their chance to realise some cash. Staff loyalty is important to us and to our clients, who like the stability this offers.”

The cash raised from the float will also be used to launch additional hedge funds and bankroll the company’s rapid expansion.

Managers have already been hired for several new funds that will specialise in energy and in Japan. Small investors are likely to be attracted through a joint venture with Saga, which provides services for the over-fifties and has 7m customers.

Richards and Alen-Buckley built impressive reputations in the City working together in the late 1980s at Smith New Court, where they helped to build the stockbroker from a market value of 10m to one of 500m by the time it was sold to Merrill Lynch in 1995.

Both men had been watching the growing hedge-fund industry with interest. Alen-Buckley had numerous contacts, including leading figures such as George Soros. They spent four years at Merrill before quitting to set up RAB.

Alen-Buckley, who is taking the title of executive chairman, is described as the “public face” of the business. Richards, who goes from chief investment officer to chief executive, is more involved in strategy.

Richards runs the Special Situations fund, which is just over a year old but has already generated a return of 1,274%.

Since hedge funds are known for being opaque and secretive, observers are concerned that RAB will struggle to live with the scrutiny that comes with being a public company.

Richards said the company planned to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) rather than the main market so that lengthy meetings with institutions could be avoided. “We want to spend our time managing the money, not talking about it,” he said.

“We have a simple philosophy. Our goal is to produce consistent returns in all market conditions. We think that if you work on managing the risks and reducing the downside, the upside tends to look after itself. The float is exciting but it will still be business as usual.”ENDS



Please DYOR, you are responsible for your own buying and selling timing actions.

cheers GF

Hawick, the way I found Berlin Bourse was after reading an article on naked shorting:

www.fillyaboots.com
click fillyaboots archive
click "Stockgate" and naked shorting
www.berlinerboerse.de/?
click about us
click new companies
click listings


Pour yourself a whisky first!

Thrid EYE we are going to have the last laugh anyway. Just watch this space. To holders of RAB the TA is turning to aour favour, again this is also due to the positive mood in the markets.

Hi Angi, you will see the shorters scapering as soon as the price rises and I expect that over the short term. I wouldnt get too worried about them though wether they are from this country or Germany.

Some investors have said that the Germans have acted illegaly, to be honest I dont really give a jot as the results are out next month and we should be in for some corkers.

cheers GF.

Thanks Angi, I am not worried by shorting anyway, if you believe in your stock picks then it is not a problem in the long run, but a whisky is a very good idea!!! Quite clearly RAB is as i have pointed out undervalued at this level on fundamentals. Who introduced BPRG into this thread? Oh yes i know.

And Cobra into Cherwell. And so on.

Thrid eye is just a nightmare. Lets not anwer to him anymore, just like in a circus, if a clown has not an audience, his act is finished.

All,

I have watched this dispute across several threads for the past few weeks, and have had cause to comment on a number of occassions, as several posters have over stepped the mark. This has been the case for all involved on both sides of the discussion.

I am issuing a final warning for all those who have been involved - If I have cause to intervene with regard to any poster again, I will remove their access to these boards for a period of 24 hours. If I then have cause to warn that person any further I will remove their access from this part of the website completely.

I hope that I have made myself clear, and I hope that you all have a good day.

Regards

Ian Taylor
Customer Support Manager
MoneyAM

Call me all the names you want Xmortal.

It looks like a spike after the quite considerable sell off, which is understandable, I expected reality to set in & it has -1.25p today & I think RAB has further to fall. I still expect it to hit 30p.

yeah whatever. going long for this and i will be in profit like all RAB holder.

Looking at the share prices/volumes history, it is evident that RAB will take a while to turn around. To all Burnfinger followers, look at Sue Helen's tips/analysis - these are always well researched and targets met in a short period.

I took my profit & left.

RAB GOES JAPANESE

RAB Capital plc, the leading fund manager specialising in hedge funds, is launching a Japan long-short equity hedge fund focusing mainly on liquid large-cap stocks.

RAB Japan Fund launches on June 1st with initial net assets of approximately US$40-50 million. The managers aim to deliver consistent positive returns by using an investment process that couples original idea generation with pragmatic assessment of stocks, sectors and catalysts, combined with disciplined risk management.

The managers of the fund, Robin Cosgrove and Nick Reid, have proven long-short and long-only track records in Japanese equities, with 25 years combined experience including 15 years residence in Japan. Building on their seven-year business relationship and complementary skill-sets, Robin and Nick will jointly co-manage the portfolio, enhancing investment conviction and sustainable alpha.


Michael Alen-Buckley, Chairman of RAB Capital, said, "We are delighted to have such a highly experienced and talented management team join RAB. Japan is emerging from a 14-year slump, the financial system has stabilized and valuations are extremely attractive, offering exciting return opportunities. The RAB Japan Fund is attracting a lot of interest from investors, and going forward we expect it to become a core strategy at RAB."

Ends

GF

Brief tree shake this morning down over 2p and there was no significant selling. Looks as though new uptrend becoming established (already 20% above low recently). Rebound set to accelerate now, say technicals, looking for around 57p in first instance, though sure to be bumpy on way up. I did not sell on way down (unusual for me but fundamentals and potential present far too convincing an argument here), and i most certainly am not selling now!

Thanks for that pointer ramu, I for one will take a look.

ramu

Be careful when you recommend a tipster on any BB regardless of how highly you may rate them.

If you check out the CMS Webview thread around November last year you will find it massivly ramped with even our Sue Helen getting over excited and proclaiming "it will be 50p by Christmas". It briefly got to around 20p and is currently 7.5p.

I should point out that this is NOT an attack on Sue Helen, but simply an attempt to make sure that everyone understands:-

A) the need for a balanced arguement with all the pro's & con's highlighted and debated openly &

B) the need to do your own research, make your own decisions and blame nobody else if they are proved wrong. After all, if SH can get it so drastically wrong, we sure as hell all can.

Have a great day tomorrow everyone.

Agree markp. Nice to see this one up again on good volume a near 25% recovery in recent days on decent volume. But still plenty upside to the broker's fair value of 57p. Which as i have said I consider very modest, based on fundamentals.

GF, et all (except Third Eye)

We are moving forward. We have broke the 20MA and just edging up the 60MA. MACD and RSI look positive and more upside looks likely. There is a positive comments on Shares Mag on RAB too. At these levels the company is still undervalued.

GF could you add some TA graphs at the beginning of these thread so we can see the developments. Ta

Hedge funds no threat to financial stability
Thu 10 June, 2004 13:45

By Pratima Desai

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Hedge funds no longer pose a threat to the world's financial system, industry experts say, and may even increase stability by taking on risk and providing liquidity at times of market turbulence.

In 1998 it was a different story. Then, huge losses at hedge fund Long Term Capital Management threatened to destabilise the world's equity and bond markets. The U.S. Federal Reserve was obliged to step in and organise a multi-billion dollar bail-out.

"LTCM happened when hedge funds were relatively new and there tended to be a very few large macro funds," said Mike Cuthbert, funds analyst at Bridgewell Securities.

"They have been superseded by smaller more specialist vehicles...There is probably a bigger threat from derivatives trading between institutions (than from hedge funds)," said Cuthbert, who was attending an alternative investment conference here.

Global macro funds mainly bet on currency and interest rate movements, but their dominance has waned as the hedge fund industry has expanded into equities, government and corporate debt and commodities.

"Strategies like equity long/short have grown. They are seen as producing good returns with more acceptable risk levels," said Teather & Greenwood funds analyst Martin Cross.

"Basic economics tells us that speculators work to the benefit of efficient markets...because they provide liquidity when others are shying away."

WORRYING DEVELOPMENTS

In recent years hedge funds have made money from merger and acquistion activity, from convertible bonds -- bonds that can be converted into equity -- and distressed bonds, the debt of firms in financial trouble.

But some of these strategies are not as profitable as they used to be and many hedge funds are turning to equities where the ability to short -- to sell a stock that isn't owned in the hope of buying it back cheaper at a later date -- has reaped rewards.

But that doesn't mean global macro funds have shut up shop. Many hedge funds, with the help of statistical analysis and options, manage risk well to produce very healthy returns for investors.

"The more a market is populated with people with different behaviours the better it is," said Luc Estenne, director at Geneva-base Partners Advisers, hedge fund advisers.

Previously this role was filled by banks' proprietary trading desks.

But the stock market doesn't like banks to take too much risk nowadays, preferring instead client-related fees, a hedge fund manager told Reuters.

"Banks have reduced their proprietary risk taking activities, but what many have done is invest in hedge funds," he said.

Experts agree hedge funds have taken over the role of risk takers and liquidity providers.

"But this needs to be mitigated," said Estenne. "For hedge funds to play this role they need to be sure of a stable capital base. The stability of their capital base is related to the liquidity they provide to their investors."

If investors can pull out when things look shaky then that compromises hedge funds, especially those who allow redemption on a monthly basis with only a few days notice.

Is that house broker value hawick?

Most house brokers seem to have targets way in excess of current prices, have you noticed?


Xmortal I have heard of Warren buffet who is negative about hedge funds & I'm aware of the FSA...(See my article earlier)

However I haven't heard of Pratima Desai who appears to be your author.

Me either, we RAB are confident. Just posting what I found, doing my reseach. Are u happy RAB has made a come back?