Breeden steps down
from H&R Block
Richard Breeden is stepping down as chairman of H&R Block Inc., more than three years after his Greenwich-based Breeden Capital Management acquired control of the company in a proxy contest.
Breeden halted the company”™s subprime lending business and sold off its mortgage servicing and securities brokerage units.
“At the outset we wanted to extricate the company from risky financial businesses, restore financial stability, renew the leadership team and reignite growth in the tax business,” Breeden said, in a prepared statement. “We have largely achieved what I set out to do in stabilizing the company, reenergizing its core businesses and putting it on the road for future success, and others can expand on that work going forward. I am looking forward to having more time to work on some of Breeden Capital”™s more recent investments.”
Public pensions increase
hedge fund investments
Public pension investment in hedge funds is up by about half the past three years, measured both by the number of pensions using hedge funds and the amounts they allocate for investment.
Fairfield County is home to one of the world”™s foremost clusters of hedge funds.
Nearly 300 pension funds invested in hedge funds last year according to a report by Preqin Ltd., which has a New York City office. Public pensions”™ mean allocation in hedge funds was 6.6 percent last year, up from 3.6 percent in 2007.
“Public pension funds are one of the most influential groups of investors, and their increased uptake of hedge funds is shaping the new institutional era of hedge fund management,” said Amy Bensted, manager of hedge fund data for Preqin, in a prepared statement. “Pension funds have realistic return expectations and as they gain more experience of the asset class, there has been a fundamental shift in these investors towards allocating to hedge funds for capital preservation and portfolio diversification.”
Report: White House mulls
hedge fund exec to lead FBI
The Obama administration reportedly is considering James Comey as the replacement for outgoing FBI Director Robert Moeller.
Comey is general counsel of Bridgewater Associates in Westport and previously was a deputy attorney general under former President George W. Bush.
The Wall Street Journal reported Comey is among a handful of people under consideration for the job, but White House sources told the newspaper they are skeptical he would be willing to leave Bridgewater Associates, the world”™s largest hedge fund.
Norwalk”™s ICR tops
for financial communications
ICR Inc. has the largest financial communications practice in the nation, according to an O”™Dwyer”™s Directory of PR Firms survey ranking independent agencies by revenue.
Norwalk-based ICR provides investor relations, corporate and crisis communications, and digital media. The company generated $25 million in net fees from financial communications in 2010, edging New York-based Edelman, which was the runaway leader across all public relations categories. The list did not include PR units of larger marketing giants.
“Ascending to the top spot in the financial communications category has always been a goal for our firm, and to achieve that milestone in just 13 years is a significant achievement,” said Tom Ryan, CEO of ICR, in a prepared statement. “The fact that we generated a 20 percent growth rate in 2010, with no increase in staffing, speaks to our increasing productivity, efficiency and institutional knowledge.”
New Stream Capital
files bankruptcy papers
Financial company New Stream Capital L.L.C. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors.
The Ridgefield-based company has been the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry on how it has allocated its funds with affiliates. In a prepared statement, New Stream said it has been working cooperatively with the SEC.
Former McKinsey head sues SEC
After testifying in a massive insider trading case under way in Manhattan, Rajat Gupta of Westport sued the Securities and Exchange Commission, claiming he was unfairly singled out by the SEC for an administrative action that limits his legal recourses.
Gupta, the onetime head of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and a former director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., is accused of providing insider tips to Raj Rajaratnam, who declared himself not guilty in his federal trial. Testifying in the trial in mid-March, Gupta too said he has done no wrong.
”“ Alexander Soule
