MMX Management LLC announces launch

MMX Management is a business development, consulting and outsourced marketing firm dedicated to working with investment managers in the alternative investment industry. Founded by Mark Marxer and Brian Leftwich with offices in New York and Minneapolis, the founding members bring over 50 years of industry experience most recently running the Hedge Fund Placements Group at Citi, in guiding hedge funds and private equity firms through all aspects of their business cycle. MMX Management will lend its years of expertise to a suite of services ranging from drafting all documentation and assessing the competitive landscape, to growing an investor base in a strategic and targeted fashion. Together, the three founding members have raised over $16 billion in various funds, strategies and geographies. Our mission is to help position managers to capitalize on the present generational opportunity and to build and enhance each business according to its specialized needs. Finding strategic partners throughout the globe from banks, endowments, foundations, family office groups, public/private pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, the firm will look to launch in the early fall, 2009. MMX will be partnering with select groups of best in class funds, offering a full range of alternative strategies from sector specific (healthcare), long-short equity, deep value credit and distressed. We will also be announcing a key joint venture with international player in short order and together, our combined venture will give us a global presence in size and stature that will catapult us to the upper echelon of global placement agents. Marxer recently was the Global Head of the Hedge Fund Placements business in New York prior to Citi deciding to depart from placements business after a merger with its internal CAI team to concentrate on its on proprietary offerings. The Placements Group which included Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Infrastructure and Real Estate was one of the most successful and well regarded teams in the business. Marxer helped put the Hedge Fund Placements division on the map which later migrated to working with a broad array of alternative investments. Marxer and company had been negotiating with a few high profile platforms over the last few months and has decided to forgo several offers and go independent. “In the end we felt the opportunity to build a quality franchise, maintain the proper focus and avoid being affected by events out of our control, and or not specific to our direct efforts, was best served going independent and developing few key strategic joint ventures. Prior to Citi, Mark was the Chief Marketing Officer of Blackriver and a founding partner of RedSky Partners.

Opportunity sets in 2009 and beyond.....

·The massive dislocation and global financial crisis has brought:
–Unprecedented changes in the market that will continue to drive investor demand for the highest quality managers, interesting managers with an edge, best surviving athletes, niche strategies and managers with pedigree
–Liquidity, transparency, “road-tested” risk management , and an institutional platform are in high demand
–Managers that did not impose gates and those whose capital pools, liquidity and infrastructure are still intact should prosper
–Institutional investors with liquidity, flexibility to allocate and the ability to look through the current environment towards the present day opportunities are focusing on the following strategies: global macro, equity long/short, CTA’s with a focus on absolute returns, credit strategies (distressed, bank debt, ABS/MBS, DIP Funds)
–Greater transparency needs and regulation will raise barriers to entry so those with strong institutional relationships and ability to identify and access capital should be in a much better position to prosper
–Clients have become more interested in separate managed accounts (SMA) however many still do not understand what that means and the problems associated with them. Managers will need to be very flexible in how they partner with LP’s as the future structure of relationships will focus on clients’ needs, managers skill set and ability to provide multiple investment structures
–Clients are looking for managers with extensive, relevant experience who have had success through several investment cycles with emphasis on the current cycle

Risk Management

Great Article..........

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04risk-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=risk&st=cse&scp=1