Episode 16: How to effectively fundraise for an FX fund?

Episode description:
Natallia Hunik discusses challenges of fundraising for a hedge fund with Ronald Richter, co founder and managing partner of Bride Valley Partners, boutique advisory firm that provides best-in-class corporate finance, investment advisory and capital raising. Prior to Bride Valley Partners, Ronald held various roles in the alternative investments industry for the last twenty years.

Guest:
Ronald is the co-founder and managing partner of Bride Valley Partners and has held, for the last twenty years, various roles in the alternative investments industry. 

Highlights for discussion:

• Ronald shares his background and the behind-scene story on how he found Bridge Valley Partners; Ronald also shares his ample experience in capital raising.
• Fundraising is one of the biggest challenges to launch the fund. HF managers cited lack of personal network as the major worry when launching their own fund. How important is the personal network? Ronald shares his opinion on what are the most effective ways to raise capital, and how critical is it to have the personal network when launching a fund.

• Historically, marketing has been a challenge for the hedge funds as its only supposed to be catered for accredited, sophisticated investors. Most US hedge funds have their pages password protected. What does it look like in Europe under AIF directive? Ronald shares his opinion and observation on it.
• The capital introductions teams at prime brokers routinely highlight their industry connections and ability to facilitate meetings between capital-hungry hedge fund managers and yield-hungry investors. But the situation is less clear-cut for smaller to mid-sized hedge fund managers, many of whom will struggle to even get on-boarded by a prime broker in the first place. What relationships can startup managers leverage to get capital introductions?
• What are the top 3 mistakes hedge fund managers make when preparing their pitchbooks?
• Recent report from PWC on Crypto hedge funds indicates that the total assets under management (AuM) of crypto hedge funds globally increased to nearly US$3.8 billion in 2020 from US$2 billion the previous year. Is there a growing interest from the institutional investors for crypto investing? Ronald shares his thoughts on this and the potential crypto hedge funds’ future overall.