Hedge Fund Focus

New York (Nov. 3, 2009) Award winning blog and social network The Glass Hammer (www.theglasshammer.com) and Stone House Consulting, LLC have released a survey featuring surprising new insights into the buy-side industry.

Respondents to The Glass Hammer / Stone House Consulting survey represent more than 75 investment management firms with nearly $7 trillion in assets under management including US and non-US mutual funds, institutional separate accounts, hedge funds, private equity funds and SMA (‘wrap’) accounts.

The survey covers industry insiders’ views on topics such as risk aversion, fees, accountability, and more and in some cases, yielded surprising results. For example, survey respondents call overwhelmingly (89%) for shadow investment accounting by both hedge funds and mutual funds.

The survey was originally designed to lead the discussion of The Glass Hammer’s seminar “Women on the Buy-Side: Leaders of the Pack,” which brought together 100 top buy-side women from both the front and back office for an interactive, peer-to-peer discussion on the direction of the industry.

Founder and CEO Nicki Gilmour explained, “We soon saw the value in taking these same questions to a wider audience of both men and women in 75 leading firms, which has resulted in a solid working document for any senior professional to digest and consider going into 2010.”

She continued, “The most interesting piece to theglasshammer.com is that 80% of respondents think that managing the risk of losing good employees has been overlooked in the crisis, which may result in many senior players moving in the coming year.”

The survey’s report was produced by Holly H. Miller of Stone House Consulting, who noted the full results include more than 175 quotes from survey participants, elaborated on Gilmour’s point when she said, “The survey indicates that operational risk may be on the rise, despite all the increased attention. Not only have staff cutbacks increased operational risk within many buy-side firms, but increased staff turnover as the employment market improves will cause operational risk profiles to deteriorate further.”

Miller added, “And yet the detailed responses from survey participants include some harsh criticism of both investors and their investment consultants for not having a better understanding of risk overall and operational risk in particular.”

To read the executive summary, visit http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2009/11/03/the-glass-hammer-stone-house-consulting-survey-of-buy-side-industry-trends/#more-3443.

The Glass Hammer is an award-winning blog and social network for women executives in financial services, law and business. For more information, contact Nicki Gilmour at 646-688-2318 or nicki@theglasshammer.com.

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