Hedge fund raises rise
Hedge fund managers may have been spared what was otherwise a difficult year for compensation in the financial industry, according to a new survey.
Fairfield County is a center of the hedge fund industry, with major local companies including Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, Stamford-based SAC Capital and Tudor Investment Corp. of Greenwich.
Average annual compensation in the worldwide hedge fund industry totaled $311,000 last year, according to a survey by the Hedgefundcompensationreport.com division of San Diego-based Hedge Fund Jobs Digest.
Half of this year”™s respondents indicated their cash compensation rose up to 15 percent, in line with last year”™s survey.
Traders and senior associates saw the most substantial gains, while partners and principals reported no gain or a decrease in total pay. Still, most hedge fund employees are concerned about job security, the survey found.
NU CEO hospitalized
Northeast Utilities CEO Chuck Shivery was hospitalized Jan. 8 with an unspecified heart problem, with several executives running the Hartford-based utility in his absence.
Northeast Utilities provided no other information as of deadline on Shivery”™s condition. The company is working to complete a merger with Boston-based NStar, with Connecticut asserting this month unspecified regulatory jurisdiction on the deal. Northeast Utilities and subsidiary Connecticut Light & Power are coming off a tumultuous year in which a pair of storms resulted in widespread and prolonged power outages.
More PURA power?
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed legislation that would allow the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to impose fines on utilities that do not adequately prepare for storms or repair systems in a reasonable period of time.
Head-ing out
Head USA reportedly is relocating its winter sports division from Norwalk to Boulder, Colo., impacting a dozen employees here.
The company said the move was driven by Colorado”™s prominence in the ski industry and more of its ski designs originating in the United States rather than Europe where parent company Head NV has its headquarters in Amsterdam.
Muehlstein takes InBev spot
A polymers distributor is relocating from Norwalk to Wilton, subleasing 24,000 square feet of space at 10 Westport Road, once occupied by InBev USA before that company”™s sale to Anheuser Busch and relocation to Buffalo, N.Y.
H. Muehlstein & Co.”™s move was disclosed by Newmark Knight Frank, a commercial real estate brokerage with a Greenwich office. Muehlstein has had its local office at 800 Connecticut Ave. in Norwalk.
Allergy Control stays put
Allergy Control Products is being acquired by Royal Heritage Home L.L.C., a New York City-based seller of bedding products including mattress and pillow covers.
The companies did not disclose financial terms, but indicated Allergy Control Products will maintain its main office in Danbury.
Allergy Control Products sells a wide range of anti-allergen products online, including those to combat bedbugs.
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Biomass plant planned
Enova Energy Group plans a $225 million biomass energy site at a former Superfund site in Plainfield, capable of producing sufficient electricity for the equivalent of 37,000 homes.
Carlyle Group and Science Applications International Corp. are providing financing for the project, which is expected to result in 100 permanent jobs and another 300 construction jobs.
The project will burn wood from land-clearing and construction debris, with Connecticut Light & Power buying power from the plant.
IT jobs drop
Connecticut information technology job openings were down 11 percent in December from a year earlier, according to a new report, though health-care IT jobs were up.
Compared with peak demand in June 2006, IT job openings are down by nearly 70 percent, according to an index published by Bridgeport-based SkillProof Inc. and the Connecticut Technology Council.
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Cleaners get new contract
A union ratified a new, four-year contract covering 1,500 office cleaners in Fairfield County.
Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ said workers will see their average hourly pay increase from $12.50 an hour to $14.10, also maintaining health benefits.
Prominent organizations serviced by union members include UBS AG, Royal Bank of Scotland, the University of Connecticut and Fairfield University.
Viridian”™s got gas
Viridian Energy has begun offering natural gas in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with no immediate timetable for offering it in Connecticut where it has its headquarters in Norwalk.
Viridian offers electricity service to some 175,000 customers in seven states. The company said the new natural gas services gives it access to additional markets it has not had a presence, including Long Island.
Law firm moves up the line
The law firm of Begos, Horgan and Brown is moving from Westport to 2425 Post Road in Southport.
The firm”™s areas include employment law, real estate and foreclosure defense.
The Westport-based commercial real estate broker Vidal/Wettenstein represented building owner Tide Mill L.L.C.
Challenge to Himes?
State Sen. Toni Boucher of Wilton is considering running for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Himes in 2013 for his Fourth District seat in Congress, according to the Danbury News Times.
Up to code
Connecticut ranks among the top third of Atlantic and Gulf Coast states when it comes to building codes to withstand storms, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
Florida leads the nation followed by Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts; New York ranked in the bottom third.
The IBHS study included contractor licensing requirements, an area in which Connecticut fared worse than some other states.
Tirex readies tire plant
Westport-based Tirex Corp. is creating a joint venture to recycle scrap tires at a facility near Memphis, Tenn., using Tirex technology,
Tirex, which is not related to Westport-based Terex Corp., holds a 25 percent stake in the joint venture, with the majority stake held by the holding company for Evanston, Ill.-based Altgen L.L.C.
Tirex’s TCS (Tirex Cryo System) process freezes scrap tire pieces with chilled air rather than liquid nitrogen, then fractures the rubber into granules in instead of cutting and shredding it. That separates strands of steel and fiber from the frozen ground rubber.
